Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams has cried out.
He said; “The spate of insecurity in the country didn’t spare anyone, even our leader, an Afenifere chieftain, and former secretary to the Government, Olu Falae, had a terrible experience with the kidnappers. He was kidnapped and his farm was destroyed. He lost several millions to the ugly incident.”
“Also, residents of Igangan, Ibarapa in Oke Ogun area of Oyo State, have had their fair share of the troubles of banditry and killings. They are always at the mercy of bandits and marauders, who masquerade as herders.”
“The situation in the country is so worrisome that travelers can hardly travel for a journey of six hours in the country without facing the trauma of being kidnapped or killed by bandits. Despite the economic situation of the country, Yoruba land has lost more than N3 billion as ransom to kidnappers and the lives lost within the space of four years is over 200.”
“Recently, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State told residents of the state to take up arms in self-defence, while his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom had said it severally.”
“These statements truly affirmed the need for self-government or regionalism where state governors would control the police and other security architecture of their states. As the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, I rose to the occasion two years ago and convened an all-inclusive meeting that would chart a new course in securing the southwest region.”
“Thus, the Southwest Security Stakeholders Group came into being in 2019 when various socio-cultural groups came together to seek a lasting solution to the security challenges in the southwest. These organisations include the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, Agbekoya, Hunters and COMSAIC.”
“In our own little way, we also offered support to the conventional security agencies in a bid to tackle the security deficit in the southwest. And for the record, SSSG had held series of conferences in Lagos, Oyo and Osun states, respectively.”