The group accused the police and the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led government of “seeming helplessness and ineptitude” in addressing the worsening insecurity.
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), Ogun State Chapter, has raised the alarm over what it described as escalating robbery attacks in Ikangba and Agoro communities in Odogbolu Local Government Area of the state.
The group accused the police and the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led government of “seeming helplessness and ineptitude” in addressing the worsening insecurity.
In a press statement dated January 14, 2026, and signed by its Ogun State Coordinator, Eko John Nicholas, the group said residents of Ikangba/Agoro now live in “perpetual fears” as criminal elements have “besieged the nooks and crannies of the communities, robbing inhabitants at will both day and nights.”
According to the statement, Ikangba and Agoro, located along the old Lagos–Benin Road, are largely agrarian communities that once hosted several manufacturing companies, now moribund.
Despite emerging as a hub for catfish farming and aquaculture value chains, the communities, CDWR said, have been “taken over by criminals.”
The group detailed a series of robbery incidents, including the burglary of a building materials shop in Agoro community where “over 123 slates worth over N5,000,000” were reportedly stolen at night.
CDWR quoted the shop owner as saying the items had already been paid for by a customer who was expected to collect them in January 2026.
The statement also cited a daytime burglary at a house off Water Corporation Road in the Anfani area, where valuables “worth over N10,000,000… including cash and laptops” were allegedly taken away.
In another incident, a business centre owner and POS operator in Ikangba was reportedly ambushed outside his residence in Harmony Estate while returning from work. According to CDWR, the victim was beaten, tied up, had his mouth “stuffed with leaves,” and was dispossessed of “N600,000 and a laptop.”
CDWR criticised the Obalende Divisional Police Station in Ijebu Ode, noting that it is located less than two kilometres from the affected communities.
The group alleged that officers from the station regularly mount roadblocks, “extorting and harassing motorists,” while robbery cases reported to the station have yielded no results.
“Their usual singsongs and refrain have become: ‘We shall investigate, make arrest and charge the suspects,’” the statement said, adding that residents continue to suffer attacks from “seemingly ‘invisible’ criminals.”
The organisation demanded “proper investigations into these cases that would lead to arrests of these criminals and their subsequent prosecution and conviction in the law courts.”
It also called for increased police presence and urged residents to organise themselves to set up a “multi ethnic, multi-religious and non-sectarian community defense committee, under the democratic control of the communities.”
CDWR further called on residents to embark on “mass actions including town hall meetings, press conferences and peaceful protests” to pressure the police and the Ogun State Government to provide adequate security.
Beyond Ikangba and Agoro, the group said the situation reflects a broader crisis across Ogun State, including Ijebu Ode, particularly in areas inhabited by workers and the poor who “can’t afford to pay for police escorts.”
The statement linked the rising insecurity to “worsening economic hardships and high costs of living crisis,” which it said were driven by policies such as fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, increased electricity tariffs, taxes, school fees and rent.
According to CDWR, “it is this atmosphere of poverty, misery and wants that have given room essentially to the heightened insecurity plaguing communities across Ogun state.”
While reiterating the need for urgent security measures, the group said lasting solutions require addressing the underlying social conditions. It declared its support for “the building of a nationwide mass movement” to resist what it described as “anti-poor policies,” and for efforts aimed at restructuring governance to serve “the benefits of all, not the greed of a few.”