Herder–farmer attacks, Ekiti North forest belt (2018 — present)#
The Ekiti–Kwara–Kogi forest fringe (Oye, Ikole, Moba, Ido-Osi, Ijero LGAs) becomes a kidnapping and grazing-corridor flashpoint. Major incidents: • 22 Jan 2020 — kidnapping of Olufon of Ifon (Ondo) corridor extends into Ekiti; Gov. Fayemi co-founds ★ Western Nigeria Security Network (Operation Amotekun) on this date — Ekiti is one of the six founding states. • 2021 — recurrent ambushes on the Akure–Ado-Ekiti and Iyin–Aramoko roads; estimated 40+ kidnapping incidents in the year (police data). • 29 January 2024 — abduction of 27 schoolchildren and teachers from LEA Apostolic Primary School Emure-Ekiti and Apostolic Faith Secondary School Eporo-Ekiti on the same day — among the largest school-abductions in the South-West; all rescued after 11 days by police/Amotekun, ₦100 m+ ransom alleged. • 2024 — multiple attacks on Fulani settlements in Oye-Ekiti in reprisal; Gov. Oyebanji enforces the Ekiti Anti-Grazing Law (revised 2021).
Pit-collapse fatalities, Ijero gemstone mines (recurring)#
Artisanal aquamarine and tourmaline pits at Ijero-Ekiti collapse periodically: 2019 (12 dead), 2021 (8 dead), 2023 (6 dead) — the state is a chronic site for unregulated artisanal mining deaths.
#EndSARS Ado-Ekiti (20–22 Oct 2020)#
Protests at the State Secretariat and Fajuyi Park; relatively peaceful by Lagos/Edo standards; 2 confirmed deaths statewide; Ekiti Judicial Panel of Inquiry sits 2020–2021 (final report submitted Nov 2021, partially implemented).
Owo St. Francis Catholic Church Attack (5 June 2022)#
Although physically in Owo, Ondo State (on the Akoko-Edo / Akoko-Ekiti frontier), the Pentecost Sunday massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church killed 41 worshippers and wounded ~80. Federal authorities attributed it to ISWAP — the first confirmed Islamic-State affiliate attack in the South-West. Five suspects (Idris Omeiza, Al-Qasim Idris, Abdulhaleem Idris, Momoh Otohu Abubakar and one other) were arraigned in 2023. The attack triggered Ekiti's accelerated arming of Amotekun and the state's first community-policing budget line (₦1.2 bn, 2023).