The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on Sunday, sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and warned him of looming anarchy...
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on Sunday,
sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and warned him of looming
anarchy in the country, if the siege on
Yorubaland by herdsmen and kidnappers
are not taken serious by the president. Alaafin, who listed the recent spate of
insecurity in Yorubaland by herdsmen and their collaborators, lamented that
President Buhari was not doing enough in addressing the menace. The monarch
said Yorubas had all it takes to resort to self help, unless the security in
the zone improves and people are guaranteed safety of their lives and property.
Titled, “Yoruba Question in Nigeria Conundrum”,
Alaafin said, “I have never been timid or shy of my total support for the
success of your administration to deliver the country to the Promised Land. “My
confidence had always been based on Your Excellency’s ability, fitness and
competence in leading the country to the Promised Land, where Law and Order
prevail, individual liberty is guaranteed, economic well-being of the citizens
is assured. “That my confidence in Your
Excellency remains unshaken to date. In recent time however, I am worried about
the security situation in the country, especially in the South West
geo-political zone, nay the entire Yoruba-speaking area of the country
including Kwara, Kogi and Edo states. “This has to do with the incessant and
increasing menace of Fulani herdsmen that have laid siege in almost all the
highways of Yoruba land.
Whether in Owo, Akure, Ilesa/Ife-Ibadan road or
Ibarapa zone and Ijebu area of Ogun state, the story is the same. “I have held
series of consultations with opinion moulders and eminent Yoruba leaders across
board about the menace of these cattle herdsmen with such assault like raping
of our women and in some occasions, in the presence of their husbands. That is
apart from massive destruction of our agricultural lands; which ultimately
points to imminent starvation.
“On top of it all is the menace of professional
kidnappers usually in military uniforms. What is more worrisome about the
kidnapping notoriety is what looks like impunity which these kidnappers enjoy
their nefarious activities.” He said after due consultations with Yoruba
leaders and as the pre-colonial head of the Yoruba nation, Alaafin said people
are worried by the audacity of these lawless people in effecting their illegal
acts in broad daylight on our usually bushy highways without any arm of security
being able to do anything “Worse still is the confidence with which they demand
ransoms and collect such illegal levies at designated spots without any arm of
security being able to lay siege on them as it was the practice in the recent
past. “Now, we cannot even talk of parading suspects, when in actual sense, no
major arrests have been made in this part of the country.
Without arrests, we cannot talk of their facing of
the law. “Unfortunately, and painfully indeed, in the face of the apparent
helplessness of our security agencies, where do we go from here? “It is at the
wake of this manifest frustration of our people that our people have found it
unavoidable, even though reluctantly to resort to alternative measures to
safeguard their lives and property. “Suffice to say that in most part of Yoruba
land, their pre-colonial military structures have not been totally collapsed.
Hence, such structures like Odua People’s Congress,
Agbekoya and other vigilante groups. “Having stated the above, and having
established my premise as a stakeholder in your administration in the firm
belief that we all believe in the Nigeria project, kindly permit me, Mr
President, to make the following points and submissions as the Alaafin of Oyo,
the King and Head of all Yoruba at home and in the Diaspora and the Chief
Custodian of Yoruba culture and values,” he noted. He pointed out that the people of Yoruba land
in the traditional six states of the South-West geo-political zone and
extending to some parts of Kogi, Kwara and Edo states live in palpable fear
because of new wave of insecurity of lives and property they now witness on a
daily basis and which is alien to them.
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