Afenifere to Gumni: Your visit to Igboho inciting Yoruba race

Pan Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere on Sunday accused Islamic preacher, Sheikh Dr Ahmed Gumi of allegedly provoking and inciting the Yoruba race with his recent visitat to Igboho in Oyo state.

Afenifere in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, described the statement credited to Dr Ahmed Gumi and Prof Yusuf Usman when they visited Igboho as absurdities being taking too far in Nigeria.

In the statement, Afenifere while stating that as Nigerians, both Sheikh Gumi and Prof Usman have the right to visit anywhere in the country and are entitled to freely express themselves, however, frowned at their altercations while in the town.

“The circumstance of their visit to Igboho and what they said while in the town are not only provocative and inciting but also a way of mocking the people of the area and the person of Sunday Adeyemo,” it said.

Afenifere added that, ” While in Igboho, Gumi showed some cows grazing near a school compound in the area and said it showed that anybody should be free to graze anywhere without being molested, Afenifere took serious exception to Gumi or anyone else from outside Yorubaland to come and declare the area as belonging to any particular religion.

“As is well-known, Yorubas are quite liberal and tolerant of one another when it comes to religious faith, cultural practices and related social activities.”

The Pan Yoruba political organisation maintained that, ” for Gumi to declare any of the towns in Yorubaland as belonging to a religious faith is a way of inciting adherents of other faiths,” saying ” this is unacceptable. He should not bring that divisive tendency or proclamation to Yorubaland.”

According to Afenifere, ” the allusion made to the cattle grazing in a school compound by Gumi without being disturbed also veiled the truth”, adding, ” in many parts of Yorubaland today, people are reluctant to confront herders grazing on their property not because they are comfortable with it but because they are afraid of being attacked by the armed herders”.