A coalition under the aegis of the Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF) Thursday called on the federal and state governments, the National Assembly as well as security agencies to take urgent steps to stop alleged plans by some people to launch series of attacks on security personnel in the South-west states.
The Yoruba group alleged that there were plans by some individuals and groups to smuggle into the South-west the type of wanton violence being inflicted on the people and security agents in the South-east by the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra.
The forum also alleged that it had uncovered plans by some so-called freedom fighters and secession agitators in the South-west “making efforts to replicate and inflict the same level of violence being visited on the hapless people of the South-East and South-South states by IPOB on our peace-loving people in Yorubaland.”
The forum said the worsening insecurity in the South-east had become more worrisome to the people in the South-west because some unscrupulous elements had been making attempts to smuggle same level of violence into Yorubaland.
YAF, therefore, condemned the violence and killings in the South-east, saying plans by some persons and groups in the South-West to replicate such wanton violence and killings in Yorubaland should be “effectively nipped in the bud by the government through the police and other security agencies.”
YAF said this Thursday during a motorcade it organised in Ado-Ekiti, to kick-start its sensitisation of the people of the South-West to the alleged evil plans by some individuals and groups to launch attacks on security agents and formations in the South-west.
The motorcade, led by hundreds of okada riders and people dancing to music provided by a live band, went round Ado-Ekiti and other parts of the state to distribute handbills and leaflets enjoining the people of the South-West not to fall for the deception by those claiming to be championing Yoruba self-determination and independence, eschew violence, live in peace with other residents of their states and expose troublemakers.
The forum’s National Coordinator, Adesina Animashaun, who led hundreds of other YAF members and residents during the large motorcade, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, the service chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, governors of the six South-West states and other major stakeholders in Yorubaland to rise to the challenge and stop the plans by secession agitators to cause such unprecedented chaos in the region.
YAF also enjoined the country’s various security agencies, including the military, police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to activate their machineries against these elements in the South-West before the situation degenerates.
The forum further disclosed that it had already sent petitions on the alleged plan by these individuals and groups to cause violence and chaos in the South-West to President Muhammadu Buhari; Governors of the six South-West states, Senate President, Ahmad Lawal; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; Speakers of the six South-West states’ Houses of Assembly, the Service Chiefs, National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ministers of Police Affairs, Interior, Defence and Information & National Orientation.
YAF also petitioned prominent traditional rulers in Yorubaland, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona; Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun Oyetunji; Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi; Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Aladesanmi III; and other prominent leaders in Yorubaland over the matter.
The Forum, therefore, urged the police and the other security agencies to take appropriate and urgent steps to deal decisively with these elements bent on fomenting trouble in the South-west.
It also challenged security agencies to unmask both the local and foreign sponsors of these agents of violence in Yorubaland and punish them accordingly.
YAF said by its petitions to the President, South-west state governors, royal fathers and other leaders of the country it had put all Nigerians and the various security agencies on the alert about the impending doom being planned by these unpatriotic elements in Yorubaland.
The forum stated, “YAF, therefore, warns that the indications are now very clear that if prompt action is not taken, these unscrupulous and unpatriotic elements will throw the South-west into an unprecedented wave of violence under the guise of fighting and agitating for Yoruba freedom, self-determination and independence.
“It is, therefore, imperative for the federal government to nip the burgeoning insurrection now threatening to arise from the South-West under such a smokescreen, in the bud. Having another rebellion from the South-West would be one crisis too many for a country still struggling to combat the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, banditry and cattle rustling in the North West and North Central areas as well the current IPOB militancy in the South-east and South-south.
“The federal government, the Armed Forces and other security agencies should take urgent steps to stop the Yoruba independence agitators and freedom fighters now before they set the entire country ablaze.
“A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. We must not watch idly as the enemies of the country hide under the smokescreen of agitating for Yoruba self-determination and independence to engage in activities that are not only inimical, but also injurious to the continued corporate existence of the entire Nigerian nation.”
YAF, on its part, vowed to mobilise all its members across Yorubaland to confront those planning this fresh wave of violence in any part of the South-West under the guise of agitating for Yoruba self-determination and freedom, “because this gathering storm will only result in an ill-wind that will blow nobody any good.”
