By Ayodele Oni
The Leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, has issued a red alert to the Yoruba people, urging them to use whatever means to defend themselves.
According to him, the early Sunday attack on the people of Igangan, Oyo State, by the alleged Fulani Terrorists, was a declaration of war against the peace-loving Yoruba People.
Prof Akintoye, in a statement he personally signed, accused the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of backing Terrorist Herdsmen that have been maiming, killing and raping the Yoruba people.
He advised Yoruba people to arm themselves with whatever they could lay their hands upon to defend their land against external aggression.
“It must now be clear to all Yoruba people of all classes and economic circumstances that war has come in a big way to our homeland.
“This war has been coming relentlessly for five years, but some of our own people failed to understand the full intent and impact of it. Some have thought the answer is to do one constitutional or political thing to Nigeria and the war would go away.
“But we must now all know that such propositions concerning Nigeria are blatantly unrealistic.
“And indeed these endanger Yorubaland, the Yoruba people and the Yoruba civilization by diverting the attention of our people from the manifest reality of our time.
“We now call on all Yoruba people at home and abroad to focus on the danger of the moment in a manner that will be powerful enough to preserve our nation and civilization.
“First we call on our State Governors to push aside all the constitutional objections that have been constantly raised from certain quarters whenever our governors have taken measures to defend our people.
We are particularly grateful to Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State and all other Governors who support him in the patriotic and manly statement that he has issued on the Igangan disaster.
“We repeat what we have said again and again that we will stand fully and powerfully behind our Governors in any measure that they may adopt to defend our people.
“We say to our state Governors your first constitutional duty is to ensure the security of life and property in our Yoruba states. In the face of that important task, constitutional and political finesse and obstructions are a danger to the lives and property of our people.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria, has failed woefully to protect the Yoruba people, along with other indigenous peoples of the Nigerian South and the middle belt against these invading, marauding forces.
“In fact when we consider all the behavior of the Federal Government in the face of this danger to the indigenous peoples and citizens of Nigeria, we can not avoid the conclusion that the Federal Government is a sponsor of the terror in our land.
“The Federal Government started by saying and doing nothing about the terrorism while apparently instructing the security agencies to do nothing to confront the terrorism.”
