12th February, 2021
Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has warned criminal herdsmen in the Southwest to leave or face the wrath of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).
He was reacting to the attack on Professor Wole Soyinka’s Ijegba residence by herders.
Adams, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, said the manner of the encroachment was largely a threat to the privacy of the Nobel laureate.
He lamented that recent developments, based on the reports available to him across southwest had shown that criminal herdsmen have migrated from Ibarapa, in Oyo State to Yewa in Ogun State, making the state prone to increasing spate of insecurity.
He wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari has been so complacent with the growing spate of insecurity across the southwest, declaring that activities of criminal Fulani herdsmen were worrisome and very unbearable.
“We thank God that the recent encroachment on Prof’s residence failed. Prof actually saw it coming but I think the fundamental problem in this country is that we have a president that seems to be complacent on serious issues. It is in our own interest to continue to raise our voices against the unprecedented threats to the southwest region,” he said.
Adams urged the southwest governors to boost the recruitment of OPC, vigilante and hunters in the southwest security Network better known as Amotekun, especially in Ondo state to further strengthen the security outfit in the region.
While appealing to the Lagos state government to inaugurate the state Amotekun and join his counterparts in other southwest states to boost the state security networks,Aare Adams said in case Amotekun needs the help of OPC in enhancing the security operations across the southwest, the group will not hesitate to offer the service.
He, however, restated the need for better coordination, especially, on security issues among the south west governors,saying OPC is ready to offer intelligence report,physical and technical supports to the governors in addressing the menace of herdmen attacks and killings in the region.
“Back then between 1999 and 2005, the OPC became a thorn in the flesh of all criminal elements within the southwest. It was all about the fight against the bad elements that disturbed the peace of our region.
“It was also about the struggle for the liberation.Then we had issues with the police and other security authorities,because we had a limited exposure and experience of how to handle issues without much rigours. Our approach then was not in tandem with the realities of that moment.
“But today, we have gone beyond those stages,we are now very much organized, experienced, coordinated and resolute. So the OPC has the wherewithal to stop the illegal activities of criminal herdsmen in our region,” he said.