DSS Warns of Terrorist Plans Targeting Public Sites Across Nigeria’s South-West
DSS Issues Terrorism Warning for South-West Nigeria
The Department of State Services has warned during closed-door meetings with Christian and Muslim leaders in Osogbo that terrorists were advancing plans to attack public places in Osun State and other parts of the South-West. [1] Places of worship, markets, schools, clubs and viewing centres were identified as possible targets. [1] The reported assessment is that the objective is to create fear and instability ahead of the 2027 general elections. [1] The alert follows patterns seen in prior attacks where reconnaissance and planning preceded violence. [1]
Recent Attacks in Oyo Signal Growing Threat
The May 15 invasion of three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State resulted in about 39 pupils and seven teachers being abducted. [1] On January 6, terrorists attacked the National Park Service office at Oloka Village in the same Oriire LGA, killing five forest guards. [1] The subsequent abduction of pupils and teachers indicates that criminal elements had already identified vulnerabilities in the area and were testing the security environment. [1] These incidents show that terrorism is typically preceded by reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, recruitment, logistics and planning. [1]
Calls for Regional Coordination and Amotekun Strengthening
Afenifere has recalled the recent bandit attack on the Igbeti-Igboho Road and kidnapping incidents in Ondo, Kwara and Kogi states while urging South-West governors to translate their repeated security pronouncements into concrete action. [1] The President of the Osun State Muslim Community, Mustapha Olawuyi, said the community had raised concerns about 200 herders who entered the state through the Ikirun axis and were subsequently sent away. [1] Unknown persons arriving on motorcycles were also turned back. [1] South-West governors should convene an emergency regional security meeting and treat the DSS alert as a collective threat. [1] The region must fund intelligence, communications, surveillance and rapid-response capabilities while strengthening cooperation among police, military, DSS, civil defence authorities, state security networks and community-based intelligence structures. [1] Osun must strengthen the operational capacity of Amotekun while integrating properly trained local hunters and other community-based intelligence networks into lawful security operations. [1]
Argentina Advances AMIA Bombing Prosecutions
Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas has placed on trial eight Iranian and Lebanese citizens accused of participating in the organisation and execution of the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre. [2] The resolution runs to more than 600 pages and was drafted under the régime for trials in absentia established by National Law 27,784. [2] The mechanism was approved in 2025 under President Javier Milei’s government. [2] According to the ruling, the decision to carry out the attack was adopted in August 1993 at the highest levels of the Iranian régime and entrusted to Hezbollah. [2] The accused include then-Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahijan, former foreign minister Ali Velayati, Mohsen Rezai, Ahmad Vahidi, former Iranian Ambassador to Argentina Hadi Soleimanpour, Mohsen Rabbani, Ahmad Asghari and Salman Raouf Salman. [2] The attack on July 18, 1994, used a Renault Trafic van loaded with 300 kilos of ammonal and TNT, killing 85 people and injuring 300. [2] Rafecas classified the attack as a crime against humanity and as genocide in terms of international law. [2] President Milei welcomed the ruling on social media with the words “Morality as state policy!” [2]
IDF Counterterrorism Operations in West Bank
IDF troops carried out counterterrorism operations across several West Bank locations during Yom Kippur, arresting wanted suspects and seizing weapons and explosives-related materials. [3] The operations followed a shooting attack at a spring near the Israeli settlement of Neve Tzuf in the West Bank where an Israeli man was shot by a Palestinian terrorist and later died of his wounds on September 20, 2026. [3] The terrorist is believed to have acted alone in both the attack and his escape attempt. [3] Separate incidents include IDF strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza following an attack on an Israeli military vehicle and a Hamas attack on an IDF vehicle in Gaza with an explosive device that caused no casualties. [3]
Broader Recommendations to Prevent Attacks
Religious institutions should review their security arrangements, particularly for large gatherings and overnight programmes. [1] Markets, schools, clubs, viewing centres and other crowded venues should do the same. [1] Residents must be encouraged to report suspicious movements, abandoned vehicles and unfamiliar persons conducting unusual surveillance. [1] Security agencies should pay greater attention to vehicles and motorcycles entering vulnerable communities through intelligence-led checks. [1] Arrests must lead to investigations and, where evidence supports it, prosecution to avoid cases collapsing through weak investigations. [1] The Chief of Army Staff, Waidi Shaibu, should move swiftly on commitments to using modern surveillance and operational technologies. [1] The police must concentrate on policing with road security checkpoints used to detect suspicious movements. [1] Night-time activities and large gatherings in vulnerable locations deserve heightened security attention. [1] Forests and border communities require sustained surveillance. [1]
What to watch next
The South-West governors’ response to the emergency regional security meeting call and any further actions by Amotekun and community networks will determine whether the DSS alert triggers preventive measures before additional incidents occur.
