Kidnapping: Osinbajo Lied – Afenifere

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Pan Yoruba social cultural organization, Afenifere, has come down heavily on the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, for playing politics with the life of Nigerians going by his remarks two days ago in the United States of America.

The vice President had told his audience in the US that reports of kidnappings and killings in Nigeria which they read in social media were exaggerated.

Rising from its meeting in Akure, Ondo state capital, on Tuesday June 25, the spokesman of the group, Mr Yinka Odumakin, in a communiqué he signed, insisted that the meeting was overwhelmed by reports of traumatization of people by Fulani herdsmen/kidnappers/militia all across the Six states in the south west zone as well as Kwara and Kogi States.

The communiqué stated that there were indications of failure of state as the security forces have  largely been  incapable, or unwilling to safeguard the lives of people against these Criminals as none of them  has been arrested, or is under trial at the moment just as all the Federal Government has done so far is to make excuses for the Boko Haram and Miyetti Allah groups that have been accused of so many crimes against the people of Nigeria.

“It is against this backdrop that the meeting was scandalized  by the opportunistic and provocative utterances of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in NewYork on Sunday dismissing the danger we are faced in Yorubaland as well as by other zones in Nigeria as being “politically motivated .

“As if he is unaware that we are in a digital world ,which explains why America and Britain have issued travel directives to their citizens not travel to more than 2/3 of Nigeria, the VP without much thought for his integrity, stated “With respect to general kidnapping which we have seen in parts of the country ,again, this is not entirely new. In fact, some of the kidnapping stories you read, or listen to, are simply not true anywhere. Some are fueled by politics .”

The group frowned at this unfortunate comments by the Vice President who, insist, has shamed the Yoruba people with his very cheap politicking with the lives of Nigerians.

“Aside from the daily tales of horror across Yorubaland in the hands of these Fulani marauders, thr meeting would like Osinbajo to answer the following questions :

Is the report of the kidnap of a District Head from President Buhari’s town, Daura.  from his house,  on May 1 till date politically motivated ?And was the President speaking of another country when he handed kidnappers on rampage to God?

“Was former Health Minister, Prof Isaac Adewole playing politics when it was announced that his son was kidnapped? What politics was afoot when the Ondo State Governor, (Rotimi Akeredolu) recently announced that his convoy was waylaid by kidnappers ?

“If he cannot answer these questions, he should kneel before his God and ask for forgiveness for violating “Thou shall not lie” commandment.

“We further admonish him not to allow whatever ambition and political interest he serves to push him to make such infuriating comments as the number two man in the country again.

“As a people who cannot continue to bear what is going on, and we believe it is so with so many communities in Nigeria, the meeting made the following demands:

“Restate our earlier call on Mr President to separate the office of the President of Nigeria which he occupies from  being also the grand patron of Miyetti Allah which we suspect makes it very difficult for security agents to go after members of this group whenever they commit or are accused of crimes.

“There must be immediate enforcement of law and order as an urgent measure to flush out these criminal elements from our society .

“There must be immediate steps taken to re-work Nigeria to take it back to the practise of Federalism so that every federating unit can have their police to secure their environment.

“In order to cut the production line of criminals and bandits, we must have the practice of Federalism in many key spheres especially the economy so that all federating units must have the rights to tap whatever is under their soil so that new corridors of prosperity are created to eradicate the massive unemployment in the county so we can cease to be the headquarters of poverty.