The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has defended Yoruba nation agitator Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, over recent criticisms of his stance against kidnapping and insecurity in parts of Yorubaland.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the organisation said those condemning or threatening Igboho should instead concentrate on addressing the activities of bandits and terrorists operating across the South-West.
Afenifere maintained that Igboho’s recent comments were directed at individuals involved in kidnapping, terrorism and other criminal activities, not at any ethnic group.
The organisation recalled that following a series of abductions along the Igboho-Igbeti-Kisi axis in Oke Ogun, Oyo State, Igboho visited his hometown last weekend and issued a two-hour ultimatum to kidnappers holding a pregnant woman and two other victims.
He warned that failure to release the captives would attract serious consequences.
According to Afenifere, Igboho specifically cautioned Fulani individuals involved in kidnapping and related crimes to desist from such acts.
He also warned Yoruba indigenes accused of aiding criminal activities while assuring law-abiding non-indigenes living in the area that they had nothing to fear.
The group noted that several northern organisations, including the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Coalition of Northern Groups and Concerned Fulani People of Nigeria, had criticised Igboho’s ultimatum and urged President Bola Tinubu and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to call him to order.
However, Afenifere argued that there was nothing unlawful in Igboho’s actions, insisting that he neither engaged in violence nor violated any existing law.
“Since he was not violent in his action nor conduct himself in a manner that violates the laws of the land, calling on the authorities to deal with him borders on blackmail and an attempt to call a dog a bad name with a view to having it hanged,” the statement said.
The organisation further stressed that Yorubaland has historically been a peaceful and welcoming region for people from different parts of Nigeria, including many northerners who have settled and built their lives in the South-West without facing hostility from local communities.
Afenifere said tensions began to rise when some herders started grazing on farmlands belonging to local residents, a situation it claimed later escalated into cases of kidnapping, violent attacks and the displacement of communities.
The group also linked illegal mining activities to insecurity in parts of the region, alleging that criminal elements involved in illicit mineral exploitation often move into territories after local residents have been forced to flee due to terrorist attacks.
According to the organisation, many Nigerians associate the perpetrators of banditry and terrorism with the North because several suspects arrested for such crimes are reportedly from that region, particularly of Fulani origin.
It also cited statements by senior military officers who reportedly attributed some of the criminal activities in the South-West to remnants of insurgent groups displaced from Sambisa Forest and other conflict zones in the North-East.
Reiterating its position, Afenifere said Igboho’s anger was directed solely at those involved in kidnapping, ransom collection and the killing of innocent victims, rather than at the Fulani ethnic group as a whole.
The organisation urged northern leaders to address the root causes of insecurity by tackling factors that enable terrorist recruitment, including widespread poverty, lack of education and inadequate social welfare for millions of young people.
Afenifere also commended President Tinubu for transmitting the executive bill on the establishment of state police to the National Assembly and praised lawmakers for what it described as the speedy passage of the legislation.
The group called on state Houses of Assembly across the federation to approve the bill once it reaches them and urged governors to establish state police services immediately after the law takes effect.
According to Ajayi, state governments should ensure that recruits are properly screened, trained, equipped and motivated, while also providing adequate welfare packages and life insurance coverage to enhance their effectiveness in combating insecurity.
