Gani Adams again calls on South West governor, stakeholders to convene security summit
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba Land, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams has again raised an alarm over the deteriorating security situation in the country and the South West, leading to cases of killings in the region lately.
He therefore again called for the urgent convening of a South-West Security Summit to be held in one of the state capitals in the South West to be organised by Chief Executives of the various states in Yorubaland, along with some key stakeholders.
Adams in a statement signed by Kehinde Aderemi, Special Assistant on media to the Aare Onakakanfo said, “I wish to reiterate, once again, that the insecurity gradually creeping into Yorubaland is a monster which must be fought with all powers at our disposal.
“Weeks after writing my first letter to all the South West governors, prominent monarchs and stakeholders in the South West, many killings and kidnap cases have occurred, the latest being the murder of Mr. Bunmi Ojo, a commissioner on the board of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and the abduction of Dele Fagoriola, former Chairman of Akure North Local Government, Ondo State.
“Fagoriola was in his farm at Iju, Akure-Ikere Road, when six masked hoodlums stormed the place and abducted him for a ransom. The kidnappers initially demanded for a sum of N10 million for his release.
“We thank God he has been set free, obviously after series of negotiations. Apparently, this is an evil that is gradually creeping into Yorubaland.
“While the late Bunmi Ojo’s death is being investigated by the police, Fagoriola’s ordeal was reported. But possibly many other kidnap cases may have occurred within that same period but were not known because of the location and low profile of victims.
The ‘clear and present danger’ is to behave as if this hydra-headed monster does not already constitute a serious problem.
“As the Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, whose job is to promote peace and unity across all the Yorubaland and beyond, I feel concerned and disturbed that the matter is so serious now that some Yoruba are being abducted on the highways. If our people are afraid of going to their farms and travelling on the highways, then danger looms.
“Due to the fact that this ‘cancer’ was not given an urgent and decisive operation when it started, it is now spreading like wild fire because the perpetrators get high financial returns with less risk, unlike armed robbery which involves a lot of risk and high uncertainty.
“We have a critical situation on our hands now in the South West, especially in Lagos, Ogun and its environs where young, unemployed graduates, secondary school students, and artisans involve themselves in cultism, kidnapping, killing and tormenting the people.
A good example of the cruel act is that whenever a victim escapes, the kidnappers will go for the wife. If she escapes, they will go for the children.
“Aged parents and siblings are not even spared. Because of immediate financial gains, the age-long ‘Omoluabi’ has taken flight as the perpetrators operate at will in Yorubaland.
“Since nobody wants to lose a loved one, family members look for money by all means to pay these evil doers. And the vicious circle continues.
“It is high time we stopped this cancer that is spreading its virus across Yorubaland.
“Aside making money from this evil venture, these blood-thirsty maniacs want to destroy the economy of Yorubaland. That is why they must be stopped now.
“Kidnapping for ransom is already creating fear in Yorubaland and if our people can no longer go to farms or travel through the highways, our economy will be affected. We must wage war against kidnapping and the time for that fight is now.
“As far as I am concerned, I want to appeal to all the South West governors and all the stakeholders to treat this cankerworm with the urgent attention it deserves because for any development to take place in any polity, evil must not be appeased. It must be decisively dealt with and fought from all angles like the monster that it is.
“As I am sending this statement, some enemies of the Yoruba are plotting on how to perpetrate another evil. We should not allow them,” he said.
