The Yoruba Youths Forum (YYF) has warned the South-West governors and the geopolitical zone’s traditional rulers against ceding Yoruba land to Fulani herdsmen.
The YYF also rejected the suspension of the Ruga settlements policy for herdsmen, saying that rather than suspending it, “the Federal Government should forget about it completely.”
The group also told the governors to oppose the takeover of any part of Yoruba land by Fulani settlers.
In a statement the group released after its emergency meeting on Tuesday and signed by its President, Abiodun Bolarinwa, the YYF said accommodating the Federal Government’s RugaSettlement scheme would not augur well for the South-West.
“We want to use this opportunity to warn any South-West governor or monarch against ceding any part of Yoruba land to herdsmen for Ruga settlement. The consequence for daring us will be dire,” he said.
Bolarinwa added that any governor in the South-West that gave out any land to Fulani herdsmen for settlement would be rejected by all the Yoruba people and dealt with seriously.
He also advised the South-West governors to come out in clear terms and speak with one voice on their opposition to any pro-Fulani policy in the geopolitical zone.
The YYF leader then urged traditional rulers in the South-West “to be alive to their responsibility and make sure that they protect their domain from Fulani herdsmen attack.”
Speaking on the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of the Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the group leader said the deceased’s “murder along the Benin-Ore Expressway shows that we are not save in the South-West geopolitical zone again.”
Bolarinwa said, “We sympathise with our foremost leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, over the death of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunrin. Her death is indeed shocking and sad. It has also strengthened our position that Nigeria is in a precarious security situation.
“The Federal Government should act fast. We pray that God will grant the family the fortitude to bear the great loss.”
YYF also called on the security agencies to urgently fish out Olakunri’s killers, saying the perpetrators must be made to face the full wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army, on Tuesday, pledged to assist the Osun State Government to continue to remain one of the safest states in the country.
The General Officer Commanding 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Fidelis Azinta, gave this assurance during a meeting with Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in his office in Osogbo.
The governor had last month visited the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to seek assistance to combat the rising wave of insecurity in the state.
He requested the Army chief to allow the participation of soldiers in a combined security patrol team being raised to battle insecurity in the state.
He said, “We are here for two reasons. First is to congratulate Mr Governor on his election and his victory at the Supreme Court. We are also here to meet with him in line with the directive of the Chief of Army Staff that we should work with other security agencies in the state to ensure that the state is far more peaceful than it is.
“We have discussed on how to make sure that the security in the state is improved so that people can sleep, wake up and carry out their businesses peacefully without being molested.
“Osun State is one of the safest states in Nigeria. What happened in the recent past is just the migration of criminals; when you tackle them here, they run to areas they consider soft for them because the state is very peaceful and there wasn’t so much of military operation on the ground.”
Oyetola said his administration was ready to partner security agencies, individuals and corporate bodies to keep the state safe and secure.
He said his administration had been working hard to put a permanent end to the pockets of security challenges facing the state.
