Lamidi Adeyemi, Alaafin of Oyo, warned on Sunday that the people of Yoruba could resort to self-help “increasing and incessant menace of herders” in the face of “apparent helplessness” of Nigeria’s security agencies.
The Alaafin released the warning in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to Daily Trust, entitled “Yoruba Question in Nigeria Conundrum.” He voiced concern over the insecurity of the country.
“I am worried about the security situation in the country, especially in the South-west geo-political zone, nay the entire Yoruba-speaking area of the country including Kwara, Kogi and Edo states,” said the monarch. “This has to do with the incessant and increasing menace of Fulani herdsmen that have laid siege in almost all the highways of Yoruba land.”
Mr Buhari made a promise to guarantee national security – apart from fighting corruption and reviving the economy – to be elected president.
But the security issue in Nigeria seems to worsen, with the Southwest recording a increasing spate of violence, particularly kidnapping.
In addition to the Boko Haram devastated northeast, violence in the northwest has increased beyond the constabular capacity of the police.
The oil-rich Niger Delta continues to be unstable and the clash between farmers and herdsmen, which mostly affects the North Central, remains a challenge, particularly during dry seasons.
The intervention of Alaafin came after the killing of Funke Olakunrin, a daughter of Yoruba leader Reuben Fasoranti, in the midst of heightened tension. The group of Mr Fasoranti, Afenifere, blamed Fulani herdsmen, but any suspect has yet to be identified by the police.
Armed herders have been accused of violence in areas of Yorubaland for several years, but the murder of the daughter of Mr Fasoranti marked the first high-profile case they would be accused of.
“Whether in Owo, Akure, Ilesa/Ife-Ibadan road or Ibarapa zone and Ijebu area of Ogun state, the story is the same,” the Alaafin continued blaming the Fulani for insecurity in the South-west region. “I have held series of consultations with opinion moulders and eminent Yoruba leaders across board about the menace of these cattle herders with such assault like raping of our women and in some occasions, in the presence of their husbands.
“That is apart from massive destruction of our agricultural lands; which ultimately points to imminent starvation.”
The Fulani led to the Old Oyo Empire’s fall. They set up an emirate in Ilorin, initially a Yoruba city, and tried to penetrate further before stopping in Osogbo, today’s Osun State–a historic context that explains the distrust and tension between the Yoruba and the Fulani group.
“On top of it all is the menace of professional kidnappers usually in military uniforms. What is more worrisome about the kidnapping notoriety is what looks like impunity which these kidnappers enjoy their nefarious activities.
“Worse still is the confidence with which they demand ransoms and collect such illegal levies at designated spots without any arm of security being able to lay siege on them as it was the practice in the recent past.
“Now, we cannot even talk of parading suspects, when in actual sense, no major arrests have been made in this part of the country. Without arrests, we cannot talk of their facing of the law.
“Unfortunately, and painfully indeed, in the face of the apparent helplessness of our security agencies, where do we go from here? “It is at the wake of this manifest frustration of our people that our people have found it unavoidable, even though reluctantly to resort to alternative measures to safeguard their lives and property.
“Suffice to say that in most part of Yoruba land, their pre-colonial military structures have not been totally collapsed. Hence, such structures like Odua People’s Congress, Agbekoya and other vigilante,” the Oyo monarch wrote.
The OPC, an armed Yoruba militia engaged in vigilante work in areas of the Southwest, recently informed the authorities that after the murder of Mr Fasoranti’s daughter it would ‘ respond appropriately. ‘