The Oodua People’s Congress, OPC (Reformed), has joined numerous others in the South-West to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of utmost priority, find immediate and permanent solution to the incessant harassment, kidnapping and killing of the people of the region by Fulani herdsmen who, it said, had penetrated the geopolitical zone.
The president of the group, Ambassador Dare Adesope, made the call at a news conference in Lagos, on Thursday.
According to Adesope, who was represented by the Lagos State coordinator of the group and its secretary-general, Messrs Samson Balogun and Sufian Ogundimu, it is disturbing that Fulani herdsmen have invaded Yorubaland, perpetrating all forms of evil, including kidnapping and killing of our people, especially in Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states, such that people, most of whom are farmers, are now living in fear.
“Yorubaland is known as a peaceful place for every law-abiding Nigerian, where foreigners enjoy to live and do business.
“We love and accommodate people, irrespective of tribe, but not those whose mission is to steal, to kill and to destroy our people and resources. We can never tolerate that,” he said.
Adesope said it was not that Youruba people were cowards for appealing for peace to reign as the inability of the Federal Government to stop the excesses of herders could necessitate the region adopting the self-defence of its people and property.
He, however, urged traditional rulers in the region and people in the corridors of power and politicians to prioritise the safety of lives and property of the people of the region over personal and political ambitions.
“Politicians should put aside, for now, their political ambitions towards the 2023 general elections, while the obas should also not wait until their palaces are invaded by herdsmen before they will do something concrete to stop the attacks,” he stressed.
