Oduduwa News

The apex leader of the umbrella body of Yoruba self-determination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye, on Monday, issued an alert to the Yoruba people, saying that the early Sunday attack of the people of Igangan, in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State by Fulani is a declaration of war against the peace-loving Yoruba people.

In a statement personally signed by him and made available to journalists by his communication manager, Mr Maxwell Adeleye, he commended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on his stand on Igangan mayhem.

Akintoye called on the South-West governors to put aside constitutional objections to defend their people, saying “Yoruba land has been surrounded, and we must act now.”

He also urged the younger Yoruba people to rise to the occasion by coming out to defend their land via technological, spiritual and physical warfares, warning that “the Fulani herdsmen attack must never be allowed to succeed anywhere in Yorubaland again.”

According to the statement, “while commiserating with our people in Igangan, we hereby issue a red alert to all Yoruba people at home and in the Diaspora. It must now be clear to all Yoruba people of all classes and economic circumstances that war has come in a big way to our homeland.”

The Governor, on Monday, said a long list of abandoned buildings across Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), which may serve as safe haven for criminals, have been compiled.

Sanwo-Olu said the State Government would be taking proactive action towards ensuring that the buildings do not become security threats in communities where they have been found.

The popular thinking is that such buildings are occupied by criminals who use them to plan attacks. The government plans to take control of such buildings.

Sanwo- Olu spoke of the development during a live interview on Arise TV, where he shared details of his administration’s achievements in the last two years. Sanwo-Olu was 731 days in office on May 29.

At a consultative meeting on security held last month, participants requested the Government to take control of uncompleted buildings and abandoned vehicles to boost security.

The Governor, who spoke against the background of rising spate of kidnapping and criminalities in some States across the nation, said the State Government remained at alert to prevent the spillover of criminalities from neighbouring States into Lagos.

To this, he said his administration was on the verge of recruiting additional 1,500 men into the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) to boost intelligence gathering in local communities and aid security agencies to quickly respond to crimes.

He said Lagos, in the last six months, had collaborated with the police to strengthen community policing in addressing localised crimes and checking activities of cultists. The State gave the police 1,250 men from the state’s Neighborhood Watch.

He stressed that the strategy would be effective if residents remained vigilant and offered information on strange activities in their neighbourhoods.

He said: “Two days ago, I receive report of abandoned buildings across the State from Neighbourhood Watch. The list is about 250 pages with addresses and pictures of the buildings. These are some of the places where the criminals and miscreants hide to launch their activities. We are passing this list to the security for immediate response and actions. This surveillance speaks to the necessity of state police. All the preventable criminalities happening are because we have not agreed as a nation that there should be state police.

“We have been an advocate of state police and it is one of the submissions I made at the recent public hearing on constitutional amendment in Lagos. State police is a force whose time has come. Whether it is Amotekun or Neighbourhood Watch, these are all pointers to the necessity of States to have police to make them stronger. All the kidnapping and killings we have been witnessing can be nipped in the bud. Our challenge in Lagos is not having forests where kidnappers hide; it is more about cultism. I need to think global but localise my response to these challenges.”

On whether the State would ban commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, Sanwo-Olu said the Government was providing an alternative to the motorcycles with the First and Last-Mile minibuses; thousands of them will be pushed into the system.

The Governor, however, disclosed that transport unions had reached out to the State Government on regularisation of informal transport services, including Okada. He said efforts were underway to leverage biometric data for approval of commercial motorcycle operation in areas where it had not been proscribed.

On the recent progress recorded by the State in its response to infectious diseases, Sanwo-Olu revealed that Lagos now has the capacity to detect new variants of Coronavirus (COVID-19), given procurement of latest PCR machine. This, he said, came ahead of the move by the State to build a world-class Infectious Disease Centre in Yaba to support research for diagnosis and treatment of contagious diseases in future.

Sharing his opinion on the suspension micro-blogging site, Twitter, by the Federal Government, Sanwo-Olu said: “Mr. President, who is the Commander-in-Chief, may have some security information, which I do not have as a sitting Governor. I won’t say what the Federal Government or Twitter has done is right or wrong. What I see is that, on both sides, there are issues that can be resolved.

“So, in this period of suspension, let us sit and have a conversation. Had it been Twitter has an office in Nigeria, issues would have been resolved a lot quicker. In other climes, Twitter signs agreements on the rule of engagement. I don’t think that has happened here. The Federal Government, I believe, can handle the issue a lot better, because of the number of e-commerce firms and youths that are engaging in digital stuff.

“I believe there should be a lot of restraint and better management from both sides. I’ll plead that both sides come together in next one or two days and resolve this. We should not politicise this issue. People are losing money and economies are being destroyed, but there are also security issues. I am ready to give quality advice on what needs to be done if I’m called upon.”

The Governor said the repeal of Pension Act for former Lagos Governors and military administrators was a popular action taken by his administration to cut spending and improve good governance.

“There is no need for any pension for ex-Governors in Lagos. I won’t be earning any pension after my tenure,” he said.

The Arole Oduduwa & Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, has condemned the recent midnight attack in Igangan town, Oyo State by some suspected criminal herdsmen, during which many lives and properties were lost,

This was contained a press statement released on Monday by Director of Media & Public Affairs at the Ooni’s Palace, Comrade Moses Olafare.

Ooni Ogunwusi who blamed the successful perpetratelion of the Invasion on negligent management of security Intelligence described the attack as devilish and provocative, adding that such dastardly acts if allowed to continue unbated will ruin the unity and prosperity of Nigeria.

“So worrisome is that there was a tipoff recently by Oyo State Chairman of Amotekun Security Corps, Gen. Ajibola Togun (rtd)
recently raising the alarm that some foreign Fulani herdsmen and bandits of Tuareg extraction have perfected plans to invade communities in South-West.

Such an attack in which victims credibly traced some perpetrators from a particular section of the country is capable disintegrating this country. That is why those behind it must be smoked out of their jungles and dealt with accordingly.

“There is no better time for robust security measures than now because security of lives and properties of Nigerians is the basis upon which government is being constituted.

“We Yorubas are disciplined people and law abiding but not fools. We are prepared to defend ourselves without resorting to anarchy.

The African foremost monarch who is the natural head of the Oduduwa race worldwide said the Invasion is a height of criminality which must not go without strong consequences for the perpetrators.

At least 105 Medical Doctors have resigned in Ondo State in the past year.

This was disclosed by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state on Monday.

The Association in a press statement, signed by the NMA State Chairman, Dr. Stella Adegbehingbe, and State Secretary, Dr. Olorunfemi Owa lamented the ugly trend blaming it on irregular and percentage payment of salaries by the state government.

According to the NMA in the state, the situation is so unfortunate that medical doctors in this cadre have left the employment of the Hospital Management Board without replacement over the last few months.

“We have it on good records that about 105 medical doctors have resigned their employment from the Teaching Hospital in the last year alone.

“Ondo State has not been able to engage requisite numbers of House Officers since 2019. This has made our work almost impossible because this group of Doctors have a peculiar role in Health service delivery,” the statement read in part.

They added that “It is troubling to note that only three House Officers are left in the service of the Ondo State Government across the three senatorial zones in the state.

“There is no gainsaying that the ongoing laudable efforts at having a Contributory Health Insurance Scheme in the state can only be successful it the urgent issue of manpower need is adequately addressed.”

Medical doctors in the service of the Ondo State government had earlier complained over the salary cut and unpaid wages by the state government.

The doctors in a statement issued at the weekend said they received their February salary in June.

They insisted on receiving their full salary despite the recent statement by the State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, which suggested part-payment of salaries for all categories of workers in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, has described attempts by the opposition All Progressives Congress(APC) in the state to politicise the killings in Igangan as wicked and an unruly display of mindless politics.
He also declared that the statement credited to the APC on the killings in Igangan, which attempted to blame Governor Makinde, as a wicked attempt to dance on the grave of the dead.
Adisa, in a statement on Sunday, said that the leadership of the APC in
Oyo State and the country at large, must bury their heads in shame “each time we discuss security matters in Nigeria.”
“We all know the state of security of Nigeria when the APC took over in 2015. We knew that the much talked about insurgency was restricted to three states of the North East, while kidnapping was wiped out from South East.
“Even though the leadership of APC complained loudest against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan at the time, the situation Nigeria found itself under President Buhari’s APC is nothing comparable to the sanity we all enjoyed under Jonathan.
“It is obvious the APC was merely in a power grab mission, without a clue of what is needed to fix Nigeria.
“As we speak, insecurity has been weaponised and decentralised, while all parts of the country have become endangered. Even the President’s own state of Katsina is not spared as the sad incidents of kidnapping and killings continue to happen even during his official visits to the state.
“The APC in Oyo State has zero justification to comment on the security situation in the state, as we all know that the Constitution of Nigeria has completely vested the command and control of security agencies in the President. If the President has refused to use his constitutionally granted power to curb insecurity, why should members of his party attempt to shift the blame to Governor Makinde, who has provided needed logistics for all security agencies in the state, while also setting up homegrown initiatives to tackle insecurity.
“If the APC leaders want to be patriotic, they will call on the leader of their party, President Buhari, to wake up and stop the unwarranted killings across the land: kidnapping of school children and other innocent Nigerians and fix the economy.
“The APC campaigned on three fronts in 2015 and 2019: to fix security, economy and fight corruption.
“Those three areas have only been worsened in the six years of its leadership with live suddenly becoming brutish and short, while Nigeria is fast drifting to a pariah state with the recent ban on Twitter.
“Rather than seek to grandstand and dance on the grave of our innocent compatriots from Igangan, who were hacked down by agents of darkness, the APC should mount the podium in the 33 local governments of Oyo State and apologize for bringing a clueless government that has totally demobilised the nation’s security.
“Finally, the leadership of APC in Oyo State cannot use the Igangan crisis to stage a comeback to reckoning as even the South West APC leaders’ meeting held in Lagos last month did not feature any prominent APC leader from Oyo State.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has condemned the Sunday attack in Igangan, Ibarapa North local government area of Oyo State, leading to the death of people and loss of property.

He said the perpetrators of the dastardly acts must be apprehended and made to face the wrath of the law, just as he charged Governor Seyi Makinde to collaborate with the Federal Government and other security stakeholders in finding a lasting solution to security challenges in the state.

In a statement issued by his media office, Dare described “the action of the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums as evil, barbaric and crude, called for calm and peace among residents of Igangan and environs.”

The statement reads: “The attack on indigenes and residents of Igangan, Ibarapa North local government area of Oyo State, by suspected hoodlums leaving scores of people dead and property destroyed is condemnable and unacceptable. The perpetrators of the devilish and cruel act must face the wrath of the law.

“Governor Seyi Makinde, who is the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State, must convene routine strategic meetings of the political class, regardless of political affiliation, security agencies, traditional rulers, community leaders, civil society organisations and key stakeholders in the state to find a lasting solution to the recurring attacks in Ibarapa axis of the state.

“Oyo State belongs to all sons and daughters of the state either in partisan or non-partisan politics. We have a collective responsibility of ensuring peace and harmony across Oyo State as the security situation in some parts of Oyo State is disturbing and worrisome. The governor must adopt a bottom-up approach to the security challenges in the state.

“I sympathize with the people and government of Oyo State over the unfortunate incident, especially the people of Igangan, where lives were lost and property destroyed.”

Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams on Sunday declared in clear terms that with the killing of over 50 people in Igangan town, Ibarapa, Oke Ogun area of Oyo state, it is evident that war is imminent in the country.

Adams, while condemning the gruesome murder of innocent residents of the town warned Fulani herdsmen and bandits to stay away from the southwest or be ready to face stiff resistance.

The killings in the early hours of Sunday brought the entire Igangan town and its environs to its knees with over 50 people, cars burnt and over 20 houses razed.

After news of the killings and destruction filtered in, with gory videos of the massacre, Adams said the North had waged war against the Southwest.

He said the North had unleashed terror on the region, stressing the need for the people to rise and defend themselves “without looking back”.

“In a situation like this, you rise and defend yourself. Where are the police when the bandits started killing our people in Igangan today?

“Even the palace of Asigangan of Igangan land, Oba Adewuyi Olaoye, was not spared and the monarch, according to reports had been whisked away by the bandits.

“Three days ago,the Director-General of Oyo state Southwest Security Network Amotekun, Gen. Kunle Togun(Retd) raised the alarm that herdsmen had invaded the southwest.

“I corroborated his statements and called for urgent surveillance across the southwest. Now with the recent onslaught on Igangan people, it is evident that the Fulani herdsmen are on a predetermined mission to kill, maim and decimate the southwest.

“This is one killing too many, I will not fold my arms seeing the blood of innocent people being shed like it is in Igangan.

“Now that North had declared war on the Southwest, we will never silent or compromise on the homicide going on in the southwest. I want to charge all the governors in the Southwest, as well as the traditional rulers to rise to this occasion.”

The Yoruba generalissimo warned criminal herders to stay away from the region,as the Southwest can no longer accommodate killers. OPC and other local security operatives will continue to ensure that the region is safe for residents.

“Those killed in Igangan town have their families and friends, there is blood flowing in their veins and in a moment their lives were cut short by killer herdsmen and bandits in their home”.

Adams disclosed that information at his disposal indicates that bandits and killer herdsmen have invaded the Southwest thus pushing the security outfits to the wall.

He urged all the governors to beef up the security of their respective states in order to provide adequate security for the people of the region.