A coalition of Yoruba groups under the aegis of Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF) has warned the various groups claiming to be championing the cause of the Yoruba people of the South-west to stop their subversive, unpatriotic utterances and activities or risk the wrath of its members.
YAF vowed to resist with “the last drop of our blood” all attempts by these self-acclaimed freedom fighters in Yorubaland “to throw our motherland into needless chaos, destruction and desolation” by their divisive utterances and nefarious activities.
According to the YAF, the recent activities of the various irredentist groups masquerading in the South-West geo-political zone as self-determination bodies fighting to protect the interest of the larger Yoruba race border on treason against the Nigerian state.
The group, in a statement by its Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, specifically fingered the Prof. Banji Akintoye-led Yoruba World Congress (YWC) as the culprit and umbrella body for these amorphous Yoruba groups, saying that the aims and objectives of the YWC and its cohorts were “patently suspect.”
It accused the YWC and its alleged cohorts of planning to unleash avoidable violence and needless destruction on the peace-loving Yoruba people in collaboration with their foreign sponsors, in their quest to achieve the violent secession of the South West from the rest of Nigeria for their own selfish interest.
YAF said that the YWC and its cohorts were only bent on bringing hardship and disaster to the peace-loving people of the South-West by their devilish plan to violently confront the rest of the Nigerian nation.
It, therefore, urged government at all levels and all security agencies “to be more informed about the divisive tendencies of these groups and nip it in the bud.”
The YAF statement made available to journalists on Friday, read in part, “The YORUBA APPRAISAL FORUM is by this statement giving a notice that we, as responsible Yoruba, will not fold our arms and watch a few disgruntled and self-serving individuals to turn our dear Yorubaland into another Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda or a war-torn zone, where anarchy, bloodshed, proliferation of arms and wanton destruction of lives and property would become the order of the day in place of the prosperity that Yorubaland has been known for over thousands of years.
“If it ever becomes imperative for Yorubaland to break away from the rest of Nigeria, if at all things will ever get to this level, it should be a collective decision of all Yoruba people within Nigeria and in the Diaspora. It should not be a decision for a caucus of selfish individuals as represented by Akintoye’s YWC and his collaborators.
“We know the paymasters of those singing the current tune of secession in Yorubaland. Their main objective is to tear the country apart and cause disaffection between hard-working Nigerians residing in Yorubaland and their peace-loving hosts.
“But the purveyors of secession in Yorubaland should know now that there is no way we will allow anybody under the guise of fighting for the freedom of Yoruba people to confiscate the property and possessions of people of other ethnicity legally living in the South-west.
“Therefore, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. The YORUBA APPRAISAL FORUM won’t allow anyone or group of persons to destroy our future and that of those coming behind us.
“We’ll resist with the last drop of our blood all attempts by these renegades masquerading as freedom fighters in Yorubaland to throw our motherland into needless chaos, destruction and desolation.”
