Leader of the Yoruba self-determination movement, Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has called on Yoruba in the southwest states as well as leaders of the ethnic nationality in Kogi and Kwara states to declare an emergency against the activities of all Fulani herdsmen in their states with immediate effect.
He was reacting to Sunday’s attack on Christian worshipers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, by terrorists whom he alleged were Fulani herdsmen.
Recall that gunmen invaded that church immediately after the end of the mass service and killed scores of worshipers.
Eyewitnesses said the assailants attacked the church with guns and dynamite.
It was learnt that the attackers gained entry into the church through the fence and gate of the worship centre.
Reverend Father Andrew Abayomi told Punch that many worshippers were killed despite the security measures taken by the church.
“We were about to finish service. Immediately we asked people to leave, we began to hear the sound of gunshots and dynamite from different angles. We immediately asked people to run back inside the church and shut the door.
“We hide inside the church but some people had left when the attack happened. We locked ourselves in the church for about 20 minutes. When we heard that they had left, we opened the church and rushed victims to the hospital,” he said.
Akintoye said the attack was a declaration of war against the Yoruba people.
“The effrontery of the Fulani marauders needs to be frankly and courageously confronted so as to prove to their sponsors that the Yoruba people can never be intimidated or subjugated,” he said in a statement by the spokesman for the group, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye.
The press release entitled ‘Owo Catholic church attack is a declaration of war against Yoruba people – Akintoye, the Ilana leader urged the governor of Ondo State, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the state with immediate effect.
“We have stated it very expressly that the Yoruba people need to negotiate their exit from Nigeria as a matter of urgency, but our partisan political actors in Yorubaland never took us serious. We warned them that there’s fire on the mountain, but we were mocked because of their personal aggrandisement.
“Today, we have all been encircled, most especially, in Lagos. For herdsmen to have the effrontery of bombarding a church in Yorubaland to kill some people, shows that we are now in a realistic danger.
“My urgent advice to Governor Akeredolu is to pick up the gauntlet and declare an emergency against the activities of all Fulani herdsmen in the state with immediate effect. We have now been taken for granted. We need not pretend anymore. We must demand unanimously, an exit from Nigeria.
“We, the Yoruba people, cannot live in the same country with characters whose idea of common citizenship in Nigeria is to brutalise, subjugate and even exterminate us. It is time to leave these characters now. All stakeholders – the elites, traditional rulers, our women should act now.
“All the South-West states, including the Yoruba leaders in Kogi and Kwara states should equally declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani herdsmen. We must now take our destinies into our hands.
In his reaction, Akeredolu assured that the government would track down the attackers.
Akeredolu, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Richard Olatunde, said: “We are deeply saddened by the unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo, worshipping at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, on Sunday.
“The vile and satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom, who have enjoyed relative peace over the years.
“It is a black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy. Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people. This is a personal loss, an attack on our dear state.
“I have spoken to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, Most Reverend Jude Arogundade, who is presently on his way to Owo.
“Similarly, I have had to cut short my party’s national assignment in Abuja and visit Owo immediately,” he stated.
“Nevertheless, we shall commit every available resource to hunt down these assailants and make them pay.
“We shall never bow to the machinations of heartless elements in our resolves to rid our state of criminals,” he said.
“I commiserate with my people in Owo, particularly families of those who lost their lives to this ugly and unfortunate attack.
“I extend my condolences to Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye as well as the Catholic Church.
“I urge our people to remain calm and vigilant. Do not take laws into your hands.
“I have spoken to the heads of the security agencies. I have equally been assured that security operatives would be deployed to monitor and restore normalcy to Owo kingdom.”
