Fulani herdsmen: Yoruba draw battle line

Following the abduction of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, on his farm in Akure, Ondo State, and alleged incessant invasion of farmlands in the south west part of the country by Fulani herdsmen, the Yoruba in Nigeria have threatened to review their status within the Nigerian state.
Yoruba elders, at the end of an emergency summit in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Thursday released a communiqué in which they called for an end to the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the Southwest, failure of which they said, could lead to dire consequences.
At the meeting were the President of the Yoruba Council of Elders ( YCE), Gen Adeyinka Adebayo, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Idowu Sofola, Dr Frederick Fasehun, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof Banji Akintoye, Prof Adetowun Ogunseye and Dr Kunle Olajide.
In the communiqué read by Olajide, who chairs the Planning Committee, the group also called for the arrest and trial of Falae’s abductors.
Reiterating that the incessant invasion of farmlands by the herdsmen and subsequent killing of farmers were part of the flawed federal system, the Yoruba leaders restated the call for true federalism and restructuring of the nation to enable each region develop at its own pace.
The said failure to restructure Nigeria using the 2014 confab report might force the Yoruba people to review her place in a political arrangement that cannot guarantee the protection of her citizens, noting, that the time to “leave Nigeria” and assert the sovereignty of the Yoruba people is now.
The communiqué reads: “Yoruba leaders of thought both at home and in diaspora had an emergency summit in response to the clear and present danger to the continued existence of our people.

“After an extensive and inclusive debate on the threat to our survival, especially after the unprovoked, unwarranted, mindless and serial attacks on the economic rights of our people by the Fulani cattle rearers which has led to loss of precious lives, rape and criminal abduction of our people.
“Despite the non aggressive disposition of the Yoruba, we have been victims of violent violations from our hostile neighbours from pre colonial days to modern times.

Read also: The herdsmen from hell

“From the 18th century, the Fulani jihadists’ onslaught against the Yoruba through the travails of Chief Obafemi Awolowo through the June 12 saga with the latest wars declared on our people, we have always risen above board as we strive to make our neighbours see the need to deal justly and fairly not because we are cowards but because God created us to fight only as a last resort.
“Despite the untold injustices meted on us over the years, we remain the only one of the numerous tribes that has ever questioned the corporate existence of Nigeria.
“Falae’s abduction was sequel to the running battles he has had with these Fulani herdsmen, who had invaded his farmland and destroyed his produce.
“The return of the herdsmen is a declaration of war on the Yoruba, Falae’s abduction is a continuation of attacks which these herdsmen have unleashed on our people over the years.
“We cannot afford to leave our people at the mercy of violence of these herdsmen who came to destroy their economic rights and kill them.
“We demand immediate end to lawless cattle razing in Yorubaland and ask all those who want to engage in cattle business to do animal husbandry, to establish ranches, our people are no longer prepared to allow further encroachment on their farmlands.”

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