By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has appealed to Yoruba elders to toe the line of national unity and restrain from giving ethnic colouration to the recent Ile-Ife crisis.
It described the clash between some Yoruba and Hausa traders in the ancient city as “criminality which does not know ethnicity or religion,” urging stakeholders to handle the issue with firm hand.
The Forum, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, noted with dismay, accusations by some Yoruba leaders that the police report on the clash was biased.
The statement read in part: “ACF commended the prompt action taken by the security agencies, the Osun state government and community leaders to restore peace and normalcy in Ile-Ife. ACF also called on the various communities that have lived together in peace and harmony over the years to always exercise restraints in their utterances on such sensitive issues that might snowball into crises with reprisal consequences.
“Unfortunately, subsequent events after the preliminary investigation report of the Police into the Ile-Ife crisis, there have been accusations by some Yoruba leaders that the police report was biased, as the suspects paraded by the police were alleged to be mainly Yoruba.
“ACF’s position in this regard is to appeal to the respected elders of Yoruba not to give unnecessary ethnic coloration to the unfortunate Ile-Ife clash as criminality knows no ethnicity or religion.
Any slightest disagreement between individuals or groups of persons that are regarded as ethnic or religious tend to deepen hatred and division among Nigerians. Elders are known for their wisdom in settling disputes and not to fan embers of divisions among their followers.
“ACF, therefore, once more calls for restraints among the various community leaders and urge them to document their grievances and channel same through our known legal process of addressing such grievances, rather than making provocative and inciting statement capable of creating disunity.”
