Oyo school abduction: OPC seeks Yoruba stakeholders’ support against perpetrators

Accordingly, the OPC renewed its demand for empowerment by the authorities to deal decisively with the menace posed by marauding criminal elements laying siege to Yorubaland.

The sociocultural organisation said on Tuesday, in a statement by its president, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, that the spate of violence being unleashed on the people was an indictment of governors of the South-West and other Yoruba-speaking states for not being sufficiently proactive in tackling the threat posed by terrorists from the North, after sustained alarm raised by the organisation.

“We cannot fold our arms anymore and wait for bandits and terrorists to be entering our homes, our towns and villages to kidnap and kill at will. Enough is enough.

“The government must rise up, support and equip patriotic and willing individuals and groups like OPC to enter the forests to restore sanity,” the OPC said.

It strongly condemned the beheading of a defenceless Yoruba kinsman by suspected terrorists in Oyo State at the weekend, describing the crime as highly provocative and one that should not be condoned.

“The kidnapping, killing and beheading of our defenceless Yoruba kinsmen in Yorubaland is not only condemnable, it is highly provocative; and it will not be tolerated,” the organisation stated.

“We hereby urge the government to permit and equip the OPC and other self-determination groups to confront the threat posed by terrorists in order to terminate the insecurity being imported into Yorubaland from the North.

“Yorubaland is under attack. Long ago, we warned; we shouted. But our leaders continued to play politics and refused to act on the matter. Now we must face the reality that the enemies have surrounded us.

“Our people say: to be forewarned is to be forearmed. But Yoruba people and our governors have been wallowing in this unbelievable sense of fake safety and security, while ignoring the looming danger by foreign bandits, terrorists and their local collaborators.

“We will not tolerate a situation where our children cannot safely attend school, where our people cannot travel or where our farmers cannot farm because of some foreign elements.

“Time has come to take the bull by the horn and confront these unprovoked, cold-blooded and needless killings.”