The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi has joined prominent Nigerians asking President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently take steps to address the rising insecurity across the country.
Oba Adeyemi is particularly worried about the spate of kidnapping in the South-West allegedly by Fulani Herdsmen, prompting him to write a letter to the President.
Read the letter in full:
“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.” saying, “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.After due consultations with Yoruba leaders and as the pre-colonial head of the Yoruba nation, 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 is 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.
“The people of Yoruba land extending to some parts of Kogi, Kwara and Edo State are living in palpable fear because of new wave of insecurity of life and property they now witness on a daily basis and which is alien to them, and that , “this new uncomplimentary development is not unrelated to the new wave of criminal activities usually associated with banditry, armed robbery and lately, kidnapping and rape of genuinely innocent and law abiding citizens.
“I remember when these nefarious activities were first noticed in Oyo/Oke Ogun area of Oyo State, I took proactive steps to stem the tide and to amicably normalize relations between farmers and herders. Our initiative succeeded because we were dealing with genuine farmers and herders who had a commitment to Nigeria and who were interested in promoting their economic activities in a peaceful, prosperous and united Nigeria. However, it is becoming obvious that the nature and character of banditry and kidnapping today are different from what they used to be.
“Today, it is not merely infraction in the course of doing business, but blatant and criminal violation of the constitutional right to life and liberty of innocent citizens of Yoruba land. A few publicly known instances will suffice. Certain individuals were kidnapped along Erio-Aromoko road, Ekiti State. They were tortured and exposed to danger in the forest for upward of two weeks. These victims included the Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikole Branch, Adeola Adebayo whose decomposing body was eventually found after a ransom price of four million Naira had been paid.
“Other victims of kidnapping in Yorubaland included, two officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps both Yoruba that were picked up along Ilesa-Akure highway; Musibau Adetumbi, a legal practitioner based in Ibadan; Prof. Adegbehingbe, a surgeon at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife; Dr Muslim Omoleke; Mr Ayo Oladele, and Dayo Adewole, son of a member of your 2015-2019 executive council and Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole who was kidnapped on his farm at Iroko, a village along Ibadan-Oyo road, saying, as ugly as the picture above seems to be, the people of Yoruba land have remained generally peaceful and have resisted concerted efforts to push them into civil disobedience or adopting self-help mechanisms to protect themselves in their homeland.”
“They have demonstrated confidence in you and in your ability to stem the tide of these criminal activities. Yoruba have been restrained from believing the new found Islamization or Fulanization theory. I am therefore writing to you, as a concerned stakeholder in your administration, to alert you and demonstrate to you, the urgency of the need to quickly respond to these and other issues concerning Yoruba land. There is a general impression among opposition group that you are not known to take decisive and proactive steps in many matters of national interest and that you are not usually too disturbed about the gale of insecurity in Yoruba land.
“May I also share with you the outcome or product of my wide consultations in Yoruba land to let you know, beyond what official security reports will make available to you, that there is a growing feeling of frustration, disappointment and despondency among our people, which if not immediately addressed, could lead to other serious national catastrophes and security challenges. The present state of insecurity is posing enormous challenges to people’s engagements in other economic activities. The incessant and increasing menace on our highways and farms in Yoruba land is making farming and other economic activities hazardous and dangerous.
