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The pan-Yoruba Socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has ordered killer herdsmen to leave the southwest now or face serious confrontation, Following the killing of its leader’s daughter, Funke Olakunrin.
According to filed report by PM News report, in Lagos on Wednesday, July 24 2019, the organisation issued the order at a news conference in Ikeja area.
Ayo Adebanjo, one of Afenifere leaders, revealed that between 2015 and 2019, closely 30,000 people had been killed due to activities of killer herdsmen.
In their statement, they warned National Assembly “not to amend the Land Use Act with the intent to change the predominance of land allocation in states to the federal government to allow Ruga’s implementation”.
The statement read: “We demand their immediate exit from Yoruba land. If they refused to leave in reasonable time, we will not stop our people from confronting them.
“Yoruba land has now become the epicenter of the terror of these Fulani marauders and our people are fed up with the shedding of innocent blood that is quite anathema to our respect for human life which would see us remembering those who died peacefully 50 years down the line.”
South West Governors Kick
Meanwhile, following the spate of killings and insecurity in the South West, the governors, on Monday, warned that they were not bastards, said they are prepared to protect their people against external attacks.
The governors kicked against herdsmen in the region, urged the Federal Government to introduce ranches to help curb the situation.
The governors said this during burial of the 58-year-old Funke Olakunri, the daughter of the Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.
Speaking on behalf of his counterparts, Chairman of the South West Governors Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, said that the governors in the region are worried and saddened by the spate of killings and insecurity in the region.
Akeredolu, who lamented when he visited the Afenifere leader after the funeral service for his murdered daughter, said: “We are not bastards; we are ready to protect our people. There is no doubt we are faced with many security challenges, but we are not bastards. We are ready to tackle the security challenges in the region because we will give a good account to our people in the South West.”
He regretted the magnitude of evils penetrated by Fulani Herdsmen: ” He added that it was time to ban nomadism in the region.”
“We are prepared to face this challenge. It is a security challenge that we shall not shy away from.
“All the governors are saddened by the killing of Funke. It shouldn’t have happened; it has brought us down. We should hide our face; we should be blamed.
“But we are prepared to face this challenge. It is a security challenge; something drastic and urgent needs to be done. This loss is not yours alone.”
The governor, however, assured Fasoranti that his daughter’s killers would be “smoked out from their hiding place.”
Also speaking, an Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, condemned the activities of the marauding herdsmen and urged the governors to collectively fight the menace of insecurity ravaging the region.
