A security threat reportedly linked to bandits has forced the temporary evacuation of more than 100 people from a ministry facility in Idofian, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, disrupting the operation of a school, hospital, orphanage and other support centres.
The founder of Word Assembly Ministries, Rev. Isaac Omolehin, disclosed this while speaking about the security situation at the facility, saying he and his family had also been forced to stay away from their home.
According to the cleric, police officers arrived at the facility in the early hours of May 31 and advised residents to leave following intelligence about a possible attack.
Omolehin said the evacuation affected not only members of the ministry but also children and other vulnerable people receiving care at the facility.
“The school cannot open, the hospital is not functioning, and the patients and nurses all ran for their lives,” he said.
The facility, according to the cleric, also accommodates an orphanage, an old people’s home and a rehabilitation centre.
He said the security warning came before suspected bandits eventually arrived at the location, but they found the premises largely deserted.
Omolehin said he had been unable to return to his residence or ministry camp since the evacuation, adding that he and his wife and children had been moving between different locations for safety.
He said the ministry had written to the police, the Department of State Services and the Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare seeking clearance for residents to return, but that the family had yet to receive confirmation that the area was safe.
The cleric further alleged that his hometown in Kogi State was attacked three days after the incident in Kwara, with some residents reportedly killed.
While the ministry’s buildings were not destroyed, Omolehin said some belongings were later stolen after the facility was abandoned. He distinguished the alleged looters from the bandits, saying the primary concern of the latter was the abduction of people.
The cleric appealed to the Federal and Kwara State governments to strengthen security around the facility, particularly because of the vulnerable children and other persons under the ministry’s care.
He noted that some of the children in the orphanage had reportedly been placed there through government intervention and called for urgent measures to ensure their safety and allow essential services at the facility to resume.
Despite the security challenges, Omolehin said the situation had not weakened his commitment to his ministry.
