Several Pan Yoruba groups replied angrily yesterday to reports that the Governor of Ondo State, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu has set up armed Fulani Vigilante groups in the state. The groups described attempts by Akeredolu to deny the reports as a ‘tissue of lies to cover up a horrendous anti-humanity policy.’
In a joint statement on Tuesday which was made available to newsmen, 23 Pan Yoruba groups described the action of Akeredolu as a ‘monumental disgrace’ to the culture of the heritage and tradition of the people he was elected to serve.
The groups said if Akeredolu fails to disband the Fulani Vigilante group within 24 hours, Yoruba groups from across the traditional Yoruba territories will move to Ondo State to physically confront the Fulani Vigilante.
“This is not a threat but an historical responsibility to defend every inch of Yorubaland from armed killers who already have their hands dug inside the mouth and intestine of patience Yoruba people. We have endured traitors for too long, but there should be a limit, for it is better to die than to live in slavery,”
Chief Hakeem Salau Akinremi and Col Abimbola Sowunmi (rtd) signed the statement on behalf of the 23 groups.
The groups said “You, the Governor of Ondo State is a disgrace to Yoruba nation. We heard you set up Fulani vigilante about one month ago. We thought it was a joke. It has now been confirmed. How can you build police from among those that commit crime? You do not believe in Yoruba vigilante but you believe in Fulani vigilante to protect your own people? Are you mentally alright? Did you have any sense of history? Did you have a riotous mind that has no place for logic and clear thinking?.”
The groups said Akeredolu’s action amount to selling off the Yoruba nation for his future political ambition. They added that his action suggests he came to power at the prompting of his Fulani masters which appear to explain his contempt for his own people.
Other groups that signed the statement were O’odua Peoples Congress, (OPC), Network of O’odua Alliance, (NENA), O’odua Revolutionary Congress, (ORC), Agbekoya, O’odua Students Revolutionary Council, (OSRC), Yoruba Radical Alliance, (YORA), Apapo O’odua Koya (AOKOYA), O’odua Progressives Congress, (OPOC), Okun Revolutionary Movement, (ORM) among many others.
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