The leader of Indigenous People of Biafria (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, says that the Yoruba race must be watchful to avert the incursion of “Fulani jihadists” into their land.
He stated this in a statement released through the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful on Tuesday.
Kanu said that the Yoruba nation has suffered humiliation from the Fulanis for long, beginning with the imprisonment of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the 1960s.
He noted that the humiliation has not stopped, as it is presently being manifested in kidnapping of the people’s culture custodians among others.
According to him, the jihadists come like thieves in the night whose impacts are seen during the day.
He said, “They come like thieves in the night, by dawn they are everywhere. They slaughter your sons, rape your wives, defile your mothers and take your daughters as sex slaves.
“They kidnap your culture custodians and desecrate your traditions. They have infested your forests and sacred groves. They have become audacious on your own soil and search and interrogate your farmers and hunters as they peacefully pursue their rural livelihoods.
“They wreak havoc, ransack and loot. That which you hold dear mean less than Cows.”
Kanu stated that: “the social media buzz arising from pictures of Fulani Vigilante in Yoruba land accosting prominent lawyer, Kayode Ajulo in Akure on July 22, has left many questions than the thousands of mixed comments across the social media spectrum.”
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“Yet, some pertinent questions that stick out are, when did this Fulani herdsmen vigilante get formed in Yoruba land?
“Is it ever possible that the entire Yoruba race was collectively unaware of this well-armed Fulani group until just yesterday when, by providence or happenstance, they revealed themselves to the public?
“Is this not the sort of vigilante that IPOB had completely rejected in Biafraland? Why did the Yoruba cave in? While we ponder these questions, plus the many unasked ones, let us not lose sight of the hurried visits to the Presidency in the past few days by two of the prominent Yoruba traditional leadership in Nigeria, the Oni of Ife and Alafin of Oyo.
“These visits raised some red flags, especially coming on the heels of the murder of Pa Fasoranti’s daughter and the quantum evidence of significant hostile Fulani herdsmen penetration of Yoruba land.
“It’s more worrisome that, instead of standing up to the bullies and the cabal at Aso Rock, these highly respected leaders were content to banter and engage in the general platitudes of lamely complaining about “insecurity in the land”.
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“They seemed to forget that the occupier of Aso Rock together with the cabal he is working with are the epicenter of the insecurity and other horrible machinations in the land.
“Without the cabal in Aso Rock, there will not be anything like Fulani herdsmen, not to talk of their unbridled terror. Even Boko Haram would have been history from what was left of them by the sheer grits and gallantry of General Azubuike Ihejirika.”
A few days ago, a prominent Yoruba analyst, Prof Toba Alabi, writing under the caption “The Yoruba Nation And The Dilemma Of Bola Tinubu And Yemi Osinanjo, said ‘Yoruba has a history of humiliation in Nigeria and this must be addressed.
“Awolowo was jailed and an army of occupation infiltrated the Southwest. In 1966, Col. Fajuyi was killed. Abiola won an election but died in detention.
“Abacha jailed Obasanjo, killed Kudirat Abiola, Suliat Adedeji and tried to kill Generals Diya, Olanrewaju and Adisa. What did the Yoruba nation not suffer under Sani Abacha? Every imaginable form of indignity was meted out on them”
Kanu said Yoruba people seem to be more humiliated even now than before, adding that they have seen sufficient signs to act decisively, adding that “Prof Alabi was not done yet, as he seemingly pointed the Yoruba to what everybody already knows.”