Insecurity: Afenifere decries invasion of Yorubaland, charges govs to act

Afenifere charges Southwest governors against terrorist invasion of Yorubaland

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has decried the invasion of the South Western Nigeria by terrorists in recent times. It then challenged governments and security agencies to do more in rescuing the area from bandits.

A press release by Afenifere National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, expressed the Yoruba people’s concern over the almost daily occurrences of devaluing human life in some states within the region. He highlighted the barbaric manner in which kidnapped victims’ lives are being destroyed and how abductees are mercilessly beaten and degraded. Among the cases cited were Ondo State, where churches, police stations, private homes, and highways are under attack; Kwara, where communities are being sacked; Oke Ogun in Oyo State, where farmers are murdered and travelers attacked on the Igbeti-Kisi road; and Ekiti State, where kidnappers not only kill their victims but also demand ransom before releasing the bodies to their families.

“The greatest demonstration of the heartlessness of these evil-doers was their demands of ₦1.5 million, Indian hemp, cocaine, a synthetic drug known as ICE and cartons of canned beer for the release of a corpse in their captivity. The kidnappers even hilariously asked for virgins to be brought in exchange for four men that they had earlier abducted as part of the ransom!

“Up till the recent past, the home environment used to be considered a ‘safe haven’. Unfortunately, the situation is no longer so. A couple was attacked right in front of their home in Akure, Ondo State with the husband shot while trying to prevent his wife from being abducted, Elder Igwe, father of former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, was abducted on his way to church on Sunday, March 1, a family in Erinmope-Ekiti was attacked with five members whisked away at 7 pm when people were in the mosque for the evening prayer just as bandits reportedly went from house to house in Kubwa, Abuja on Tuesday this week, robbing and abducting people.
In a similar manner, routine attacks lasting hours continually occur in Kwara, Plateau, Benue, Borno, Kebbi, Nassarawa, Niger, Katsina and Kaduna. Returning refugees from Cameroon were also attacked in Bauchi State. The list is long.

The Afenifere spokesman recounted the story of one of the kidnappers involved in the abduction of a medical doctor and his brother in Benin, Edo State. He and his gang had killed the younger brother of the doctor and released the doctor after collecting ransom. The daughter of one of the kidnappers fell ill. He and a partner took her to hospital, where and when the abducted but released doctor was on duty. The doctor recognised his abductors and arranged for the police to arrest them.

“The point here is that the bandit values the life of his daughter (by seeking health for her when she fell ill) but saw nothing wrong in killing other people,” he said.

Ajayi, who said that instances of terror acts and kidnapping are numerous, was emphatic that the problem is not insurmountable as bandits are not spirits or invisible, nor invincible!

He proposed that one way to address the problem is to cut off the funding sources for these criminals. These sources include some unscrupulous wealthy individuals, organisations (both local and international), certain state actors, and communities paying protection money (sometimes called ‘protection levies’ or ‘harvest fees’), ransoms being collected from captives, and outright theft. The government should also consider foreign interests involved in illegal mining without following proper procedures as potential masterminds of the complete sacking of communities.

“Confessions of some of them that had been apprehended and tried revealed that they had sponsors. As such, what needs to be done includes going decisively after the sponsors of the bandits and their middlemen, blocking the sources of their funding and weapons, raiding the bushes in which they harbour, effectively blocking corruption and sabotage in the forces, empowering and motivating security personnel, as well as the immediate take-off of state police.

In this respect, Afenifere lauded President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for being resolute in getting state police off the ground, as evidenced by, among others, his call on the National Assembly to expedite action to amend the relevant sections of the Constitution to enable state police take-off immediately.

The new IGP, Mr. Tunji Disu, was also lauded for his commitment, as seen in his inauguration of a committee to work on the modality for state police.

Afenifere reiterated its call on governments of the South West to immediately put in place mechanisms to raid bushes where these bandits are hiding, maintain regular surveillance of the bushes and cooperate with the federal government to ensure the prompt take-off of state police in their respective states.

Afenifere