A Yoruba group identified as Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide (IOOW), has revealed that Sunday’s attack in Owo, Ondo State is a declaration of war against the Yoruba people that should not go unnoticed.
The leader of the apex body for Yoruba self-determination and self-preservation movement, Prof Banji Akintoye in a statement by the Communications Secretary, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, enjoined Governor Aketedolu, who is the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, to declare an emergency on the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the state with immediate effect.
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‘Today, we have all been encircled, most especially, in Lagos. For herdsmen to have the effrontery of bombarding a church in Yorubaland to kill shows that we are now in a realistic danger.
‘My urgent advise to Governor Akeredolu is to pick up the gauntlet and declare an emergency against the activities of all Fulani herdsmen in the state with immediate effect. We have now been taken for granted. We need not pretend anymore. We must demand unanimously, an exit from Nigeria. We the Yoruba people cannot live in the same country with characters whose idea of common citizenship in Nigeria is to brutalise, subjugate and even exterminate us.’
Meanwhile, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has expressed deep sadness over the attack while vowing to hunt down the masterminds of the assault.
The Governor made this known in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, shortly after the attack which killed many.
‘It is a black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy. Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people. This is a personal loss, an attack on our dear state,” Governor Akeredolu said.
‘I have spoken to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, Most Reverend Jude Arogundade, who is presently on his way to Owo. Similarly, I have had to cut short my party’s national assignment in Abuja and visit Owo immediately.’
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the governor, who commiserated with the families of the victims, vowed to fish out the culprits.
