As sympathisers were trooping to the house of the Leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio Political Group. Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, on the death of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunrin, youths under the umbrella of Ondo State Youth Network, Saturday staged a protest condemning the spate of insecurity in the state.
Olakunrin, was killed by some gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen along Ore-Shagamu expressway at Kajola Village in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Friday.
Some of the early callers at the Ijapo, Akure house of the Afenifere leader include the Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Uganda, Omolade Oluwateru , the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Eddy Olafeso.
The youths who carried placards with various inscriptions urged both the Federal Government and the Ondo State Government to go beyond rethoric of condemning attacks on innocent citizens and take decisive actions at checking the trend.
Some of the placards carried by the youths read: ” Enough of this killings’, ‘ Akeredolu must act now,’, Every human life matters , ‘ These killings must stop, ‘ Governor Akeredolu do something,” amidst chanting of solidarity songs.
One of the leaders of the group, Tuyi Akintade said the government must act on the killings and kidnapping by the heardsmen in the state.
He urged the state government to look into the rising wave of insecurity so that it would not degenerate to uncontrollable level..
Akeredolu, who visited the Afenifere leader in company of his cabinet members, said there was a need to take some measures to tackle the insecurity, adding that the government would not relent in the fight against the scourge.
He said, “All of us are worried and there are some measures that have to be taken and we must prevent this. We must take whatever steps we want to take to tackle this issue of insecurity in order not to allow this happen again.
“It is a personal loss to all of us. For now, we are mourning a relative that has just passed on”.
Fayemi while speaking with journalists condemned the criminal act, stressing a need for urgent action against the incessant cases of insecurity in the South-West. He described the incident as a tragedy of immense proportion.
He said that the Federal Government would be called upon to do something very urgent about the security challenges in the country.
“I know Mrs Olakunrin very well as a matter of fact, she was with me three days ago before heading back to Lagos.
“So, it is a personal loss and tragic situation for us and we all own a duty to tackle this issue head long in order to rescue our people from this situation,” he said.
In his own comment, Mimiko expressed worry over the state of security in the country in general, adding that the development needed collective efforts to resolve . .
Mimiko stated “This is despicably disturbing and this is another very challenging situation in our country. We must collectively rise to this challenge.
“I have no doubt in my mind that incident like this would task the very fabric of our nation and would also require very profound political will. We must leverage on technology and we must definitely get to the root of this matter in the interest of our nation and in the interest of the economy”
He described the incident as a wake up call that must be confronted with vigour as it is gradually getting out of hands.
THISDAY…
