The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), loyal to the late Frederick Fasehun, has condemned the recent killing of over 178 citizens in Kwara State.
In a statement by the Chairman of Dr. Frederick Fasehun’s OPC Caretaker Committee, Kazeem Lawal, the group described the killings as heart-breaking and provocative, insisting that the terrorists responsible must be hunted down by security agents.
The Yoruba socio-cultural organization urged the governors of the 10 Yoruba-speaking states to immediately declare a state of emergency in response to the escalating insecurity in the region.
Lawal stressed that the only way to redress last week’s killings in Kwara State communities is to apprehend, prosecute, and execute the perpetrators.
“Such cold-blooded killers do not deserve a second chance. They should be shot on sight to give them a dose of their own medicine and serve as a deterrent to others planning to follow in their evil footsteps. These killers have committed a wicked crime against God and humanity, and they must face the supreme punishment,” Lawal said.
The OPC Caretaker Chairman further urged the 10 governors of the South-West and other states with Yoruba-speaking indigenes to desist from politicizing the prevailing insecurity and instead collaborate to find and implement rapid solutions.
“Governors of the 10 Yoruba-speaking states must immediately declare a state of emergency on security to reflect the gravity of the situation. With these rampaging terrorists, bandits, and jihadists, all Nigerians face an existential threat, and all hands must be mobilized to identify, locate, and neutralize these evil actors,” Lawal said.
The organization called on the Federal Government, the Kwara State Government, and security agencies to launch a massive manhunt to locate and apprehend the killers.
“Those who committed this dastardly act are not spirits. All available resources must be mobilized to hunt them down, arrest, prosecute, and annihilate them,” he added.
Declaring its readiness to defend Yoruba land and people, the OPC warned that it would not allow terrorists to fester and overwhelm the South-West as they have in the North.
“We shall not cede the land of our birth to Fulani herdsmen and Islamist jihadists. We will defend ourselves and will not fold our hands while foreigners invade our lands, kidnapping, raping, pillaging, and killing at will. Whatever criminalities bandits, jihadists, and terrorists have perpetrated in the North should remain in the North because we Yoruba people will not tolerate such in our homelands.
“Nigerians wonder why the authorities continue to pamper these hoodlums. Why are the agencies not arresting anyone found roaming around with AK-47 assault rifles? Instead, the security agencies, who are supposed to defend lives and property, choose to go after those who muster the courage to defend themselves.
“We will not seek or wait for anyone’s permission to defend ourselves with everything at our disposal. As we have done in the past, OPC shall do everything to defend our land and people.”
The group urged the Nigerian Police, security agencies, and Armed Forces to be proactive rather than reactive in tackling non-state actors troubling the country.
According to OPC, the heightened insecurity appears to be a deliberate ploy aimed at undermining the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
