The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has ordered Fulani bandits to stop their killing spree and pack out of the region.
He said failure of the bandits to comply with the order, will attract dire consequences.
Rising from a crucial meeting of the Aare Onakakanfo in Council, Adams insisted that the Yoruba would no longer sit and watch as the herdsmen kill, rape and kidnap their people.
He lamented that despite numerous appeals to their consciousness, the bandits had continued to cause mayhemin the region, insisting on reaping where they did not sow.
The Aare Onakakanfo accused the Federal Government of deliberately turning a blind eye to the evil being perpetrated by the herdsmen across the country.
He insisted that the government must call a spade by its name and rather than “dubbing the Fulani marauders as criminals, bandits, and pillagers, they should be labelled as what they are. We are clamouring that the appropriate moniker should be used to tag them. They should be addressed as ‘Fulani bandits,’ for we believe that there is power in names.”
He also advised the traditional rulers and local Chiefs in the region to pay closer attention to the activities of bandits in their domains, adding that they would be held accountable if they failed to account for and monitor strangers in their areas of authority, “particularly those whose activities run contrary to peaceful coexistence.”
He said further: “We cannot continue to fold our arms and let these bandits continue to soil our land with the blood of the innocent. Consequently, we hereby ask these Fulani marauders to stop their murderous activities and vacate every inch of Yoruba land they currently ravage.
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“Failure to reconcile themselves with these terms may warrant maximum retaliation as the principle dictates that a bully only respects a bully.
“The campaign of blood by Fulani herdsmen, who have been ravaging our land, kidnapping, killing, maiming and raping our people in recent years has become a serious source of concern for the Yoruba race; a race renowned for their staunch passion for peaceful coexistence, national cohesion and development.
“The threat posed to our existence by these blood-mongering marauders cannot be overlooked as we, as a people, believe that for peace and accord to reign among the multiplicity of people who occupy a common territory, all parties must play a role in ensuring that each and every unit in this country respect each other in all ramifications
“As true spawns of Oduduwa, we are unequivocally forthright about this threat posed by this group which the federal government has turned a blind eye to by refusing to call a spade by its name, dubbing the Fulani marauders as criminals, bandits, and pillagers. Every true blood of the Yoruba race is at the risk of being haunted and slaughtered by this reckless group if we keep sugar-coating the bloody implications of their evil enterprise.
“We are acquainted with the nature of Fulani nomads in the past, and we know as a matter of fact that they were not carrying AK47s. It is because of this naked truth that we ask that these people be labelled as what they are. We are clamouring that the appropriate moniker should be used to tag them. They should be addressed as ‘Fulani bandits,’ for we believe that there is power in names.
“We strongly advise Obas and local Chiefs to show more than passing interest in the activities of people in their domains. They must know that they cannot be blameless for their failure to account for and monitor strangers in their areas of jurisdictions, particularly those whose activities run contrary to peaceful coexistence.”
Demanding immediate and concrete action from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over the activities of the bandits, the Aare Onakakanfo said: “We are no longer comfortable with the continuing brutalization and murderous humiliation of our people. Government’s silence is distressing as it is emboldening the criminals. President Buhari must act now. They need to understand that their seeming stillness about this plague is a tacit alignment with the forces of evil.”
He listed dark spots where the federal government must urgently intervene to include Orile-Owu to Ijebu-Ode forest, Osun and Ogun States; Ilesha, Ife, Aramoko, Ijero, Esa-Oke, Ikire, Gbogan, Ode-Omu, Ifewara, Ibadan to Ife Road, Ife to Akure Road, Ikesha to Oshogbo, and environs; Osi, Igede, Ilupeju, Ikole, Ado, Ikere, and environs, among others.
Recall that the herdsmen had in recent times become more emboldened in their activities in the Southwest causing road users to avoid many of the highways in the region.
