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Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Pan Yoruba sociocultural organisation Afenifere has condemned the spate of killings and kidnappings allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen in Yoruba land and called for immediate stop to the menace.
The organization at its meeting held in Akure at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure kidnapping ends in Yoruba land.
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In a communique issued at the end of the meeting entitled “A Yorubaland still under siege”, the group said the insecurity in the country is a result of the failure of the federal government.
The communique read by the group’s publicity secretary, Yinka Odumakin, states:
“All the reports provided clear indications of failure of state as the security forces are largely incapable or unwilling to safeguard the lives of our people against these Criminals as we are not aware of any of them that has been arrested or is under trial at the moment.
“All the Federal Government has done so far is to make excuses for the Boko Haram and Miyetti Allah groups that have been accused of so many crimes against the people of Nigeria.
“It is against this backdrop that the meeting was scandalized by the opportunistic and provocative utterances of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in NewYork on Sunday dismissing the danger we are faced in Yorubaland as well as other zones in Nigeria as being “politically motivated.
“As if he is unaware that we are in a digital world ,which explains why America and Britain have issued travel directives to their citizens not travel to more than 2/3 of Nigeria, the Vice President without much thought for his integrity stated “With respect to general kidnapping which we have seen in parts of the country, again, this is not entirely new.In fact ,some of the kidnapping stories you read or listen to are simply not true anywhere, some are fueled by politics.
“Meeting frowned at this unfortunate comments by the Vice President who shames the Yoruba people with his very cheap politicking with the lives of Nigerians.
“Aside from the daily tales of horror across Yorubaland in the hands of these Fulani marauders, meeting would like Osinbajo to answer the following questions:
“Is the report of the kidnap of a District Head from President Buhari’s town from May 1 till date politically motivated? And was the President speaking of another country when he handed kidnappers on rampage to God?
“Was former Health Minister ,Prof Isaac Adewole playing politics when it was announced that his son was kidnapped?
“What politics was afoot when the Ondo State Governor recently announced that his convoy was waylaid by kidnappers ?
“If he cannot answer these questions, he should kneel before his God and ask for forgiveness for violating ‘Thou shall not lie’ commandment. We further admonish him not to allow whatever ambition and political interest he serves to push him to make such infuriating comments as the number two man in the country again.
“As a people who cannot continue to bear what is going on, and wevbelieve it is so with so many communities in Nigeria, we demand that the President should separate the office of the President of Nigeria which he occupies from being also the grand patron of Miyetti Allah which we suspect makes it very difficult for security agents to go after members of this group whenever they commit or are accused of crimes.
“There must be immediate enforcement of law and order as an urgent measure to flush out these criminal elements from our society.
“There must be immediate steps taken to rework Nigeria to take it back to the practice of federalism so that every federating unit can have their police to secure their environment.
“In order to cut the production line of criminals and bandits we must have the practice of Federalism in many key spheres especially the economy so that all federating units must have the rights to tap whatever is under their soil so that new corridors of prosperity are created to eradicate the massive unemployment in the county so we can cease to be the headquarters of poverty.”
