Yoruba coalition petitions UN, AU, EU, others over secession

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

A coalition under the aegis of Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF) has petitioned the United Nations (UN), its five permanent members, European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and other powerful nations over plan by the umbrella body of Yoruba self-determination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, to present a petition against the Federal Government at the 76th General Assembly of the UN.

YAF, in the petition, urged the UN and the super power countries to bar Ilana Omo Oodua and its allies from attending UNGA to present its petition.

The group said Ilana Omo Oodua’s endorsement of the recent petition by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) urging the government to conduct a referendum was only part of strategy to legitimise its plan for the violent dissolution of Nigeria.

“The ultimate objective of this plan by the group is to achieve nothing salutary or beneficial to the people of Nigeria, but to further their evil design to undermine and bring down the country and the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, out of sheer malice over the forthcoming 2023 general elections.”

YAF, in the petition signed by its National Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun accused Omo Oodua of funding “the violent activities of the self-styled Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, currently undergoing trial in Benin Republic following his recent arrest at that country’s airport while attempting to flee.”

YAF alleged in its petition that contrary to Omo Oodua’s claim that the UN General Assembly would be an opportunity to explain the rationale behind the Yoruba nation agitation to world leaders, its plans “is to use the platform to get undeserved sympathy and secure support from unsuspecting countries across the world, which are largely uninformed about the true situation of things in Nigeria.”