In the sweltering heat of Tuesday afternoon, December 2, 2025, a battered truck rumbled past Iyaganku Police Station in Ibadan.
Packed tight with dozens of young men, gleaming motorcycles, and lowing cows, it zipped through checkpoints without a pause.
Locals froze in disbelief. Whispers spread like wildfire: Were these harmless migrants chasing okada jobs after northern harvests?
Or something darker, bandits slipping south amid Nigeria's endless security woes?
One vendor, Mama Aisha, clutched her wrapper tighter. "My heart jumped," she told neighbors. "They looked too many, too quiet."
The truck, license plate faded under dust, hailed from Kano, sources say. Driver claimed livestock for Lagos markets.
But eyes lingered on the men's duffels, bulging, suspicious. Social media exploded with grainy videos, views hitting thousands by dusk.
"Seasonal hustle or sleeper cells?" one X post fumed, echoing 2023 Amotekun busts of similar loads hiding daggers and bows.
No intercepts this time. The rig vanished toward Oyo's outskirts, leaving residents glued to radios.
Yet, controversy brewed online. "Job seekers, not threats," defended a northern trader on X. "Past stops proved it, harmless folks."
Others weren't buying. "Cows as cover? We've seen this movie," shot back a user, citing viral clips of armed herders in past hauls.
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