The State Security Service (SSS) has raised an alarm over an imminent attack on some communities in Ondo State by suspected members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In a confidential memo dated October 20, 2025, and addressed to the Brigade Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery, Owena Cantonment, Akure, the SSS disclosed that credible intelligence confirmed plans by the terrorist group to carry out coordinated assaults in Ondo and Kogi States.
The memo, signed by Hi Kana, Director of Security, Ondo State Command, identified Eriti Akoko and Oyin Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government Area, as well as Owo town in Owo Local Government Area, among the terrorists’ intended targets.
The SSS warned that the terrorists had already commenced surveillance on soft targets in the affected areas and called on the military to heighten security operations to forestall any attack.
“Intelligence confirmed plans by members of ISWAP to carry out coordinated attacks on communities in Ondo and Kogi States anytime soon,” the memo read in part.
The agency further advised that the level of security alertness across the identified communities be immediately scaled up to prevent loss of lives and property.
This latest development comes barely three years after the June 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, where more than 40 worshippers were massacred by suspected ISWAP fighters.
Security analysts have expressed concern over the renewed spread of terrorist activities into southern Nigeria, after years of carnage and abductions in the North-East.
