SAN FRANCISCO March 29, (THEWILL) – The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, on Tuesday disclosed that it had set up a panel to monitor disturbances caused by herdsmen in the South-West geopolitical zone and compile the reports for action.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting of the association held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, which was read to journalists by the Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.
The organisation condemned the menace of the herdsmen in the South-West and other parts of the country, disclosing that the report of the panel would be shown to the international community about the havoc the herdsmen were causing in the geopolitical zone.
Afenifere also expressed worry over the handling of the crisis between the Hausas and Yorubas at Ile-Ife, Osun State, warning the police to desist from adding tribal coloration to the incident.
Condemning the arrest of Yorubas in Ile-Ife and their parade at Abuja by the police, the organisation reiterated that it was unfair for the police to be one-sided in the arrest of suspects in the communal clash.
The communiqué read in part, “The herdsmen cannot continue to harass us, we are agrarian communities in the South-West, many of our people cannot farm again because the herdsmen have taken over their farmlands, this cannot continue and that must stop immediately.
“To show our seriousness on this matter, we have empowered a panel to go round all the communities in the South-West where the herdsmen have been carrying out all kinds of havocs, to do an on-the-spot assessment and compile a report and do a documentary and we will not hesitate to take this to the international community to look at our case if the Nigeria government continues to prove that it is helpless or unwilling to tame the criminal activities of these Fulani herdsmen.”
While maintaining that the police were biased in their action over the arrest of the Yorubas after the incident, the organisation declared that the action of the police was unconstitutional.
Afenifere said those arrested had not committed any treasonable felony or accused of any financial crime to warrant the federal government taking over the investigation and possible trial and arraignment before the high court.
“The position of Afenifere is that the entire incident happened in Ile-Ife, Osun State and it is within the Osun State that those arrested can be detained, investigated and prosecuted if need be,” the organisation maintained.
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