Perturbed by the worsening security situation, Aare-in-Council, the highest decision-making organ of the office of the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, has advised the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to tighten Nigeria’s borders, especially, the one with Northern West African neighbours, with a view to stopping the illegal entry of killer herdsmen and other criminals.
The council also picked holes in the recently signed Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) which stipulates that religious bodies and charity organisations be regulated by the registrar of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a supervising minister as well as the reintroduction of the National Water Resources Bill, which, it said was rejected in 2018 by the eighth National Assembly.
These were part of the resolutions reached at the quarterly meeting of the group, comprising the 36 members from all sectors at the weekend.
In a communique signed by Babajide Tanimowo, Atoloye Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, the council expressed concern that the Federal Government has failed to handle the various security challenges across the country, saying the council has, in its possession, credible intelligence reports from within and outside the country about the infiltration of terrorists and killer herdsmen in the region.
“It is worrisome that the intelligence report at our disposal revealed that about 500 power bikes and assorted armour belonging to the terrorists have been physically sighted on the abandoned Lusada route moving towards Sokoto, from Igbó-Orà in Oyó State.
“The council, therefore, enjoin all South West governors, as well as the governors of Kwara and Kogi States, to emulate the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, by directing their citizens to apply for gun licence for self-defence against the marauding terrorists and killer herdsmen.”
The intelligence reports, according to the council, also revealed that suspected ISIS operatives have positioned themselves in Niger State via Ìbàrùbáland and are now within the Òkè-Ogùn corridor of Oyó State.
“We call on the Federal Government for an immediate halt to all ethnic and genocidal killings in Nigeria. No nation prospers on the blood of the innocent. President Buhari should rise to the occasion and put a stop to the senseless killings in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Taraba states, among others. Stop this senseless bloodletting now. We say: Enough is enough.”