Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has accused the police of ethnic bias in the handling of the recent crisis between the Yoruba and Hausa in Ile-Ife, Osun state which claimed many lives.
He, therefore, cautioned the police over the handling of their investigation saying “it appears that the police has so far demonstrated ethnic bias in its investigation and this is not good for the unity of Nigeria and its people.”
While condemning the killing of innocent people and destruction of properties in Ile-Ife, Fayose said; "whether committed by
Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa or any tribe, crime is crime and it must be treated as such. However, handling of crime must be without ethnic bias."
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Thursday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said it was strange that in a clash involving the people of Ile-Ife, who are Yorubas and Hausa, who are settlers in the ancient town, only Yorubas were arrested, taken to Abuja and paraded before the press.
He said there was no way the Police could convince Nigerians that only those 20 Yorubas that were paraded in Abuja were involved in the crisis.
He expressed concern that the same police that intervened promptly in the Ile-Ife crisis, made arrests and paraded 20 people as alleged masterminds of the mayhem had been unable to arrest and parade any of the killer Fulani herdsmen that have wasted and still wasting the lives of thousands of Nigerians across the country.
“If there was a clash between Yoruba people and Hausas in Ile-Ife, are the police now saying that only the Yorubas took part in the crisis?
“Both Yorubas and Hausa were attacked. Properties belonging to both Yorubas and Hausas were destroyed. Are the police saying that those 20 Yorubas that they paraded in Abuja were the ones who attacked the Yoruba people that were also victims of the crisis and destroyed those houses belonging to the indigenes of Ile-Ife that were destroyed?
“In my own opinion, the investigation so far conducted by the police was done with ethnic bias and I demand for thorough investigation that is devoid of ethnic sentiments.
“Also, to prevent future reoccurrence of such crisis, I call on the Osun State Government to set up a judicial panel of inquiry to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the crisis, as well as identify the masterminds of the crisis".
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