Since Buhari has failed to protect us, give us license to bear firearms- Yoruba group
The Aare Ona Kakanfo-in-Council led by Iba Gan Adams has cried foul again over the rising tide of insecurity in the country.
The group said that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to inspire confidence regarding the safety of lives and property of Nigerians.
The group expressed this view via a communiqué issued after its meeting. They advocated that South-Western Governors should ratify Yorubas to bear licensed firearms.
Signed by Babajide Tanimowo, Atoloye Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, the council said it received reliable information which indicates “the infiltration of terrorists and killer Fulani herdsmen in the region.”
They referenced the information that suspected ISIS operatives have positioned themselves in Niger State via Ibarubaland and within the Oke-ogun corridor of Oyo State.
“The intel also revealed that about 500 power bikes and assorted armour belonging to the terrorists have been physically sighted along the abandoned Lusada route moving towards Sokoto, from Igbo-ora in Oyo State.
“The Council, therefore, enjoin all Southwest governors, as well as the Governors of Kwara and Kogi States, to emulate the Governor of Benue State, Mr Samuel Ortom, by directing their citizens to apply for gun license for self-defense against the marauding terrorists and killer herdsmen.”
READ ALSO: Rights group lambast security operatives over massacre of lgbo youths in Enugu
The group implored the All Progressives Congress (APC) government to move swiftly to mirror Nigeria’s entry points, especially the borders with other West African countries.
The group also called for an end to the wanton genocidal killings currently wreaking havoc in the northern part of the country.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, rise to the occasion and put a stop to the senseless killings in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Taraba States, among others. Stop this senseless bloodletting now.
“The clamor by the Yoruba for effective and adequate security architecture for the region goes beyond Amotekun or any form of self-help. It is all about the preservation of our heritage as a race, our way of life, our patrimony, our culture and traditions.
“Since 1991, the Yoruba have been clamouring for resource control or restructuring as a basis for equitable co-existence within the Nigerian nation. The clarion calls have gone largely unheeded. Now, our people are sick and tired of the deafening silence they have been receiving over time.”
The council held that for lasting peace to be accomplished, the federal government should embark on an equitable restructuring of federating units before October 1, 2020, based on the recommendations of the Yoruba Submit Group at its meeting held in July.
