Metro
ILE-IFE CLASH: Don’t provoke reprisal attacks, Arewa youths warn Afenifere
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has reacted to criticisms trailing arrests made by the police in the wake of the communal clash in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Following criticisms from the Pan Yoruba Socio-Cultural Organisation, Afenifere, of the arrest of only Yoruba indigenes in the clash that resulted in the deaths of 45 people, the AYCF, has warned against utterances that could provoke reprisal attacks.
The group cautioned Afenifere to allow the court and the security agents perform their duty over the Osun State clash between the Yoruba and the Hausa resident in the place.
AYCF stated this in a release signed by its national president, Mallam Yerima Shettima.
He said, “We frown at the gang-up to harass and intimidate the courts and the police from investigating and punishing those found guilty so that a repeat of this sad episode would be avoided.”
Read also: ILE-IFE VIOLENCE: Why we arrested only Yoruba suspects, IGP replies Afenifere, OPC, others
The northern youth group, then called on those it described as “marauders who are hiding behind ethnic umbrella and are desperately trying to pervert the course of justice,” to be careful with their utterances so that they do not “provoke reprisal attacks.”
It added, “Reasons should apply at this important period in the history of this nation, when all compatriots are working hard to address the multiple challenges confronting the nation, economically, politically and socially.”
AYCF further stated that the northerners have shown maturity in relation to the clash by not going after the millions of Yoruba citizens doing business in its region.
It said Afenifere should be reminded that the northerners chose not to retaliate as a demonstration of respect for the rule of law and not cowardice.
RipplesNigeria ….without borders, without fears
Click here to download the Ripples Nigeria App for latest updates
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...