Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba Land, Iba Gani Adams has alerted that some unseen forces are behind the Fulani herdsmen attacking people in the country.
Specifically, Adams stated that some people who are in high places are the ones sponsoring the Fulani herdsmen who are killing and kidnapping innocent Nigerians.
The Yoruba generalissimo who spoke in Akure, the Ondo State capital when he paid a condolence visit to the leader of the Pan Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti over the killing of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunrin, who was allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen at Kajola village along Benin-Ore road last Friday.
However, he assured that he would ensure that those sponsoring the herdsmen are exposed and brought to justice in no distant time.
To bring an end to the menace of killing and kidnapping in the South West geo-political zone, Adams said: “We are planning to have synergy with our state governments in the South West region.
“How can an ordinary Fulani herdsman be holding an AK 47? From our findings, an AK 47 rifle goes for about N1 million and with many bullets. So, we are looking beyond ordinary Fulani herdsmen.
“We realised that there are some forces behind them in three phases: Those who strike in the bush, those who issue statements to back them up and those who are strategists who give instructions to those who strike.
“Our problem in Yoruba land is that we don’t prepare, we always react.
When we tell our people to prepare, they employ nonchalant attitude to it.
“I have seen this signal, I have the information. Last year I wrote to our governors and a summit on security was held three weeks ago. Just within three hours, we couldn’t conclude that summit; they left that venue.
“Now, we don’t have an option; we have to work with the governors. They are the chief security officers in their states and anything that happens within their states is an embarrassment to them. Don’t forget that they are the ones collecting all the security votes.
“As the Aare Ona Kankafo, I use my personal money. We are talking about someone that is ready to sacrifice anything for his own race and not reading political meaning into all what is happening.
“But I can tell you authoritatively that we are meeting as a group and as stakeholders to map out strategies to complement the efforts of the law enforcement agencies. I have been notified that the Inspector General of Police has arranged a special squad to work on all the dangerous spots in the South West due to the letter I wrote to him four weeks ago.
“We can no longer allow our people to be killed like chickens. We can’t keep quiet while Yoruba are being killed like fouls. It’s very important that we have to react to this issue but we will not overreact. We are being cautious so that we won’t be setup. And the law is there that we have to operate within the ambit of the law. That is one of the reasons we are being careful.
“My own Aare Ona Kakanfo is a modern one. It is not that of the olden days when the Alaafin and some Yoruba Oba with the Oyo Mesi will declare war and you can go to war. We have a security structure on the ground; the entire security apparatus is on the ground.
“We have to be careful not to go into their own trap. We have to be careful. It is good you see me in circulation to walk with you. We don’t want a situation where we will walk into their trap because we realise that this ugly incident is being coordinated beyond our own scene. There are some forces behind them,” he added.