Some leaders of the Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, on Wednesday accused the federal government of failing to curb mass killings in the country especially in the South West.
They also ordered Fulani bandit-vigilantes out of the South West to avoid confrontation with the Yoruba people.
The Afenifere leaders include Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Prof. Banji Akintoye, Dr. Femi Okunrounmu, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Chief Supo Shonibare, Alhaji Sola Lawal, among others who addressed a press conference in Lagos today.
They also warned the National Assembly against amending the Land Use Act to remove the power of land allocation from state governors towards forceful implementation of the suspended RUGA programme.
Adebanjo, who spoke on behalf of other Afenifere leaders, claimed that the RUGA project was suspended to allow the National Assembly amend the Land Use Act. “This would not be accepted,” he stressed.
He said the mass killings are unacceptable, regretting that the federal government had failed to contain the activities of “marauding herdsmen”.
“We are miffed that those who will not allow our elected governors have police are now setting up Fulani bandit-vigilantes on our soil in addition to the Fulani militias terrorizing our land,” he said.
The leaders however demanded “their immediate exit from Yoruba land and if they refused to leave in a reasonable time, we will not stop our people from confronting them.”
The Afenifere leaders also condemned the killing of Mrs Olufunke Olakunrin on Friday, July 12, 2019, by suspected herdsmen, saying her death was a great blow to the Yoruba nation. They said government must find her killers and bring them to book.
Adebanjo said: “We cannot continue to live under these conditions. The blood of our people will no longer be used to water the tree of a dysfunctional unitary order.
“We demand an immediate timeline for a return to a federalist Nigeria so that we can have autonomy to run our internal affairs and failure to do so will constrain our capacity to continue to restrain our people from embracing self-determination.
“It is now clear we Yorubas have had enough, as the Ooni of Ife, Alaafin of Oyo and Prof. Wole Soyinka and other Yoruba patriots have warned.
“We sound it very loud and clearly that corporate Yoruba have never questioned the continued existence of Nigeria and we hope no one pushes us to that.”
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