A Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua, said on Monday that the incessant killings being experienced in the South-West were being encouraged by the Federal Government’s failure to curtail the excesses of the killer herders.
The group expressed worries that the arms carrying herdmen continued to kill innocent residents of the South-West region.
The leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye, described the recent killings in Igangan community in Oyo State by suspected Fulani herdsmen as a red alert and “declaration of war against the peace-loving Yoruba People.”
The historian said in a statement made available to journalists on Monday by the group’s Media Manager, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government was backing killer herdsmen.
The statement urged the residents to arm themselves with whatever they could improvise for protection.
It lauded Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for his bold stance, noting that “Yoruba land has been surrounded and we must act now. The Fulani herdsmen’s attacks must never be allowed to succeed anywhere in Yoruba land again.
“We express uttermost shock and horror at the news of the barbarous killings and destruction by Fulani and other terrorists upon our people in Igangan, Ibarapa area of Oyo State. While commiserating with our people in Igangan, we hereby issue a red alert to all Yoruba people at home and in the Diaspora.
“We call on all Yoruba people to focus on the danger of the moment in a manner that will be powerful enough to preserve our nation and civilization.
“We call on our state governors to push aside all the constitutional objections that have been constantly raised from certain quarters whenever our governors have to take measures to defend our people.
“The Federal Government has failed to protect the Yoruba people along with other indigenous peoples of the Nigerian South and the middle belt against these marauding forces.
“You must urgently install early warning alarms; human, manual, scientific or spiritual. Arm yourselves with whatever you can lay your hands upon, be creative as individuals and as communities to confront the enemy.”
