By Lukman Adesola
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has condemned in strong terms the attack on the residence of Yoruba activist Chief Sunday Adeyemo (aka “Igboho”) in the early hours of Thursday, saying the attack was a ploy to silence him from expressing his views on the state of the country.
Adams charged the federal government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the bloody incident and also bring the perpetrators to book.
Adams, in a statement on Thursday by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, described the attack leading to the death of eight persons with the destruction of property as very unfortunate.
Adams said the attack has exposed the federal government in regard to the spate of insecurity in Nigeria, alleging that the incident was a predetermined ploy to silent Igboho from his activism for an independent Yoruba nation-state which, according to him, is what many Yorubas both home and abroad want at the moment.
The statement reads:
‘The attack on Sunday Igboho’s house is most unfortunate. It is a reflection of the fact that our lives as Nigerians are of no value to the government. And the truth is that nobody is safe in this country,
‘The recent attack was the second in six months. The first was in January when his Soka resident was razed by unknown arsonists. And up till date, nobody had been apprehended in respect of the ugly incident.
‘Those agitating for the Yoruba nation have been the targets of this administration and the two attempts at Igboho’s houses within six months cannot be said to be ordinary. They were ploys to cow him and frustrate him,
‘We cannot continue to live in fear and trepidations. We cannot continue to live in perpetual crisis where our lives and properties are not secured.
‘Igboho is being hunted because of his beliefs in the struggle for the liberation of Yoruba race and those behind these two attacks should be warned that any attack on Igboho is an attack on all of us that are in the struggle for the liberation of Yoruba race. It is sad that this government is intolerant of other people’s views,
‘Let me say this for emphasis that it is in the interest of the Federal Government to learn how to manage those agitating.Yoruba are seeking self-determination or devolution of power. These are the two key things we are asking from the Federal Government. So, of the two requests, the FG should be ready to negotiate for one, rather than using force to subdue agitators,
‘For instance, the British government didn’t at any time subdue the agitations of Scotland or Ireland. Even in Canada, Quebec settled for a region after seeking self-determination from Canada. It is their legitimate right and such must be protected under the ambit of law,
‘As a government, it is your duty and responsibility to change people’s views through better policy implementation and programmes that are in the interest of the mass of the people. Not the other way round,
‘The video clip of the attack on Sunday Igboho’s house was a show of death and destruction. About eight people were allegedly killed in the attack, with wantom destruction to his property. The information at my disposal also indicates that the attack was allegedly done by the Nigerian Army in collaboration with foreign terrorists. Imagine Igboho was killed in the attack,it might lead to a raging war.Remember the case of Boko Haram leader, Muhammed Yusuff, that was killed in 2009.The death of Yusuff became Nigeria’s nemesis and Boko Haram has created the most challenging problem in Nigeria till today,
‘As far as I am concerned, I don’t support anything that negates the law or anybody that disobeys the law, however, the Federal Government should be able to tolerate other people’s view, by taking into consideration, the rights of every citizen as it is in the constitution. This is what makes democracy thrives.’