For 176 families in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, six months of anguish have finally given way to relief. The women, children, and pregnant mothers seized from Woro and Nuku communities in the brutal night raid of February 3, 2026, have been freed and reunited with the people who never stopped waiting for them. It is a moment that deserves to be marked, celebrated, and honoured, and it is a moment that reflects immense credit on the leadership that made it possible.
The abduction shocked the nation. Armed bandits struck Woro in the dead of night, leaving behind scenes of devastation and carrying off nearly two hundred of the community’s most vulnerable residents. What followed were months of uncertainty: failed ransom arrangements, anxious protests from affected families, and mounting public pressure on government at every level to bring the captives home. Through it all, the pressure never let up, and to the lasting credit of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, neither did his resolve.
By every account that has emerged, this governor did not waver, did not hide, and did not treat the crisis as someone else’s problem. Lawmakers close to the matter describe a leader who “hasn’t rested since it happened,” personally coordinating with security agencies and the Federal Government week after week, month after month, even as critics grew impatient and the story left the headlines. That is the mark of true leadership: staying the course when it would have been easier to move on. Governor AbdulRazaq’s quiet, disciplined persistence, sustaining intelligence gathering and operational coordination over six long months without ever losing focus, is precisely the kind of governance Kwara State needs and deserves. He has shown, in the clearest terms possible, that the safety and dignity of every Kwara citizen, however remote their community, remains his personal responsibility.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu equally deserves commendation for the Federal Government’s role in this outcome. The successful release reflects the kind of collaboration across multiple government agencies and multiple levels of government that only comes together with sustained attention from the top. That the President’s engagement was singled out by name, by lawmakers, by government spokespeople, and by the families themselves, speaks to the tangible difference federal support made in bringing this ordeal to an end. Credit is also due to the security operatives and personnel who carried out the operation itself. Their professionalism and quiet courage, often under difficult and dangerous conditions, are the reason 176 people are going home rather than remaining another statistic of captivity.
This outcome is also a story about the strength of the All Progressives Congress in action. Governor AbdulRazaq and President Tinubu both govern under the umbrella of our great party, and the seamless state and federal collaboration on display in this rescue is a direct product of APC governance working the way it is meant to work, with state and federal structures pulling in the same direction, without the political friction that so often stalls urgent national response. This is what happens when a party is united in purpose from the presidency down to the state house: results, not excuses.
It stands alongside the recent, similarly successful rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in neighbouring Oyo State as evidence that Nigeria’s security architecture, when focused and coordinated, can deliver. But this rescue is a particularly powerful demonstration of what APC leadership offers Nigerians. Consider the case plainly: it is APC governors and an APC president who coordinated seamlessly, without the usual finger pointing between different political camps, to bring these citizens home. That is not an accident. It is the dividend of a party structure built to work together rather than against itself.
There are compelling reasons for Nigerians, and Kwara citizens in particular, to stand behind the APC as this administration continues its work. First, this rescue proves that APC leadership delivers on security, arguably the most fundamental duty of any government, when it matters most. Second, it demonstrates a governing party capable of coordinating effectively across state and federal lines, a rare and valuable trait in Nigeria’s political landscape, where opposing parties in power at different levels often struggle to cooperate. Third, Governor AbdulRazaq’s conduct throughout this crisis, steady, engaged, and unwilling to abandon citizens even when the story grew difficult, reflects the kind of grassroots focused, accountable leadership the APC has sought to build across the states it governs. Fourth, President Tinubu’s administration has shown, through this and other security interventions, a willingness to commit federal resources and attention to state level crises rather than leaving governors to fend for themselves. Finally, the party’s track record here offers a clear contrast: results achieved through unity of purpose, rather than division exploited for short term political point scoring.
Beyond this single rescue, there is good reason for Kwarans to continue trusting Governor AbdulRazaq’s leadership even as his current tenure moves toward its conclusion in 2027. His handling of the Woro crisis reveals a governing style built on patience, discretion, and follow through rather than empty promises. He has shown a willingness to work across state and federal lines rather than let politics slow down urgent action, and he has kept faith with communities in the state’s more remote and historically underserved areas, treating Kaiama’s crisis with the same seriousness as any emergency in the state capital. These are the habits of a leader who understands governance as a continuous responsibility, not a series of press events, and they are the same habits that have underpinned his broader record on infrastructure, education, and party building across Kwara State.
That record of steady, coalition minded governance is precisely why the emergence of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi as the APC’s anointed candidate for the 2027 governorship election gives Kwara citizens genuine reason for confidence. As Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Danladi has already demonstrated the kind of legislative discipline and coalition building skill that governance demands, steering the state’s lawmaking arm through a period when unity between the executive and the legislature has been essential to delivering results like the Woro rescue. His decisive, landslide victory in the APC primary reflects broad confidence among party members that he is equipped to consolidate, rather than dismantle, the gains of the AbdulRazaq years. Having stood shoulder to shoulder with the Governor throughout his time as Speaker, Danladi is uniquely positioned to carry forward the same security minded, collaborative approach to governance that just brought 176 Kwara citizens home safely. For a state still working to secure its most vulnerable communities, continuity of purpose matters, and Danladi represents precisely that: a tested legislative leader ready to build on a foundation of proven results rather than start from scratch.
This rescue matters beyond the joy it has brought to Woro and Nuku. It is proof that determined leadership, sustained inter agency collaboration, and refusal to give up on citizens in captivity can and does produce results, even against patient, well organised criminal networks. But relief for one community should not mean complacency for the state or the nation. Kwara, like much of Nigeria’s north central and northern regions, continues to grapple with the threat of banditry and kidnapping for ransom. The very success of this operation should now become the template, not the exception. We encourage Governor AbdulRazaq and President Tinubu to sustain and strengthen the multi agency intelligence and security collaboration that made this rescue possible rather than allowing it to wind down once headlines fade; to invest further in the welfare, protection, and rebuilding of frontline communities like Woro and Nuku, many of whose residents have lost loved ones, property, and a sense of safety; to extend the same urgency to any citizens still being held elsewhere in the state and country, so that no family is left to wait as long as these families did; and to address the root causes of insecurity, including rural security gaps, arms proliferation, and the economic desperation that fuels banditry, so that fewer communities ever have to face this ordeal in the first place.
To the families of Woro and Nuku: welcome home to your loved ones. To Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, a leader who has proven, through six difficult months, what it means to put citizens first, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and to every security operative who worked, often silently and at great personal risk, to make this day possible: thank you. Your persistence has given hundreds of Nigerians their lives back, and it has given the APC family a moment of genuine, well earned pride.
May this rescue be remembered not just as a victory, but as a standard, one that spurs even greater resolve to secure every part of Kwara State and Nigeria against the scourge of kidnapping and banditry, and one more reason for Nigerians to trust the APC, from Governor AbdulRazaq’s continued leadership to Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi’s promise for the future, with the responsibility of leading them forward.