Odu’a Peoples Congress calls on Fulanis living in southwest to flush out the bad eggs within their midst

PAN-Yoruba group the Odu’a Peoples Congress (OPC) has called on Fulanis living in the southwest geo-political zone to fish out the criminal elements terrorising the region among them so as not to give all of them a bad name.

Over recent weeks, there has been an upsurge in instances of kidnapping by armed herdsmen across southwestern Nigeria as Fulani bandits resort to highway robbery. In Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states in particular, they have established forest camps where they take their victims to and hold them until hefty mansions are paid for their release.

 Victims whose families refuse to pay up end up getting killed, prompting many motorists to avoid certain highways such as the Ibadan-Ife Road. As the kidnappings and killings rise, the OPC is under pressure to act and already, its former leader the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland Otunba Ganiyu Adams, has urged the security forces to end the mayhem to forestall vigilantes taking the law into their hands.

OPC national publicity secretary Adesina Akinpelu, revealed that all the 30 self-determination groups in Yorubaland are ready to work for the emancipation and protection of their land. He also called on governors in the region to immediately summon a meeting of leaders of all self-determination groups in the region, in order to find a solution to the problem of insecurity ravaging Yorubaland.

According to Mr Akinpelu, there is need for unity among Yoruba people for the problem of insecurity in the region to be effectively tackled, so all hands must be on deck to check the menace. He said the invaders were able to penetrate and operate freely in Yorubaland because there is no unity among Yoruba political leaders, traditional rulers and self-determination groups.

Mr Akinpelu said: “We are working hard to ensure the unification of OPC. Leaders of the factions are already meeting to work out the modalities and very soon, we will reach out to Gani Adams, being the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland.

“He is writing letters to southwest governors over the security of the region without carrying other self-determination groups along. There are about 30 groups and we are all ready to work for the emancipation and protection of our land.”