……Evangelist says police ordered a midnight evacuation over an impending bandit attack, leaving an orphanage, schools, hospital and rehabilitation centre deserted.
Evangelist Isaac Omolehin, founder of Word Assembly Ministries in Ilorin, Kwara State, says he and more than 100 vulnerable residents of his camp have remained displaced since a police-directed evacuation in May 2026.
Omolehin said police officers arrived at the facility around midnight on May 30 into May 31 and ordered everyone to leave immediately after warning that kidnappers were reportedly on their way to attack the camp.
According to him, he was not at the camp when the evacuation took place.
“The police came to my camp in the middle of the night and asked everybody to run because kidnappers were coming to attack me,” he said.
He added that the facility was completely deserted following the warning and that the suspected attackers later arrived but found nobody there. These claims are attributed to Omolehin and have not been independently established in the reports reviewed.
Camp Operations Shut Down
The evacuation disrupted several services that had operated from the camp, according to Omolehin.
The facility housed orphaned children and included a primary school, secondary school, hospital, old people’s home and rehabilitation centre for women with mental health challenges rescued from the streets and their children.
Omolehin said the security situation forced staff, patients and residents to leave, effectively shutting down the camp’s operations.
“Bandits chased us out of that place. The school cannot open, the hospital is not functioning, and the patients and nurses all ran for their lives,” he said.
He said more than 100 residents are now scattered across different locations because authorities have not declared the area safe for them to return.
The prolonged displacement has also affected the children’s education, with Omolehin saying the school had been unable to resume operations despite the return of the academic session.
Appeals For Clearance
Omolehin said he repeatedly contacted the police seeking clarification on whether the camp was safe enough for the residents to return.
According to him, the requests have not received a response.
“We wrote to the police because they were the ones who asked us to leave. We asked if it was safe for us to return because schools had resumed and we have over a hundred children that need to go to school. There has been no response,” he said.
He also said reports were submitted to the Department of State Services and the Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare, which oversees orphanages and rehabilitation centres.
He said those agencies had also not provided the clearance required for the residents to return.
The reports reviewed do not include a response from the police, DSS or Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare addressing Omolehin’s claims.
Omolehin Says He Is Also Displaced
The evangelist said the security situation has affected his own family, forcing him to avoid returning to his home and limit his movements.
“I have a house I can’t enter. I have a car I can’t ride. I have to hide myself from the public,” he said.
He said he has been moving between different locations with his wife and children since the evacuation.
The situation was compounded by a subsequent attack on his village in Kogi State, which Omolehin said occurred three days after the Kwara incident.
He alleged that some people were killed during the Kogi attack.
According to him, the camp itself was not destroyed by the suspected kidnappers. However, he said thieves later entered the deserted facility and removed items including refrigerators, fans and mattresses.
Omolehin distinguished the alleged looters from the kidnappers, saying the former were responsible for taking property while the latter had allegedly targeted people.
Appeal To Government
Omolehin is now calling on the Federal Government and Kwara State Government to strengthen security around the camp and provide assurances that would allow the displaced residents to return.
He said the appeal is particularly urgent because some of the orphaned children at the facility were reportedly referred there by government authorities.
“I want to appeal to the government to improve security so that I can return to the camp with my family and all the people I look after,” he said.
“Some of the children in the orphanage were brought to us by the government.”
Omolehin’s case comes amid his broader public advocacy on issues affecting the Nigerian Christian community and vulnerable people. His official ministry website identifies him as the founder and president of Word Assembly Ministries in Ilorin.
Recent reporting has also documented Omolehin’s humanitarian activities, including support for displaced people in Borno State through assistance with accommodation and water infrastructure.
For now, the Kwara camp remains deserted according to Omolehin, while more than 100 residents remain dispersed and await security assurances that would allow them to return.
The police, DSS and relevant Kwara State authorities had not publicly responded to the specific claims in the report reviewed as of publication.
