Kwara State, Nigeria — November 7, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
Suspected armed terrorists known as bandits opened fire on a bus transporting an Christian evangelism team along a highway in Kwara State on Friday, leaving one passenger injured, law-enforcement sources and eyewitnesses said. The incident occurred on the Ilorin–Erinla road in the early evening as the bus, marked with religious insignia, was returning from a mission outreach in a neighbouring community.
The assailants reportedly emerged from the bush, blocked the vehicle and fired several shots through the windows before fleeing into the forest. One female passenger sustained gunshot-wound to her leg and was rushed to a local hospital in Ilorin, where she is receiving treatment. The driver managed to steer the bus to the roadside after the attack. Security officials in Kwara State confirmed an attack occurred, and the state’s Commissioner for Police, CP Gbenga Ojo, directed patrol units of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Mobile Police Force to comb the bush routes in the Oke-Ode and Patigi Local Government Areas, where the attack took place.
A resident of the area, who requested anonymity, told Dalena Reporters that the highway remains vulnerable because of poor lighting, inadequate security posts and heavy use by motorcycles shuttling through neglected bush paths. The injured passenger’s condition is stable but doctors say she may need surgery to remove the bullet fragments. Meanwhile community and church leaders in the evangelism team said they will postpone further outreach programmes until additional security arrangements are made, calling on the Kwara State government to provide armed escort for missions travelling long distances. As of now, no arrests have been reported and the attackers remain at large.