Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), has described the recent killing of over 178 citizens in Kwara State as heart-breaking and provocative, insisting that the jihadist terrorists who committed the dastardly crime must be hunted down and shot on the spot by security agents.
Stating the organisation’s position in a Press Release on Tuesday, Chairman of Dr. Frederick Fasehun’s OPC Caretaker Committee, Alhaji Kasimu Lawal, urged the governors of the 10 Yoruba-speaking states to immediately declare a state of emergency over the escalating insecurity in the zone.
Lawal said that the only way to redress last week’s killings in Kwara State communities was nothing less than the apprehending, prosecuting and execution of the killers.
“Such coldblooded killers do not deserve a second chance. These killers 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 against humanity and they must be made to suffer supreme punishment,” Lawal said.
The OPC Caretaker Chairman urged the 10 governors of the South-West and states with Yoruba-speaking indigenes to desist from politicising the prevailing insecurity and instead collaborate to proffer and procure 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, jihadists and their activities, all Nigerians face an existential threat; and all hands must be mobilised to identify, locate and neutralise these evil monsters,” Lawal said.
The organisation urged the Federal Government, the Kwara State Government and the security agencies to declare a massive manhunt to locate and apprehend the killers.
“Those who committed this dastardly act are not spirits. All available resources must be mobilised to get these killers hunted down, arrested, prosecuted and annihilated,” Lawal said.
Declaring its readiness to defend Yoruba land and people, OPC warned that it would not allow terrorists to fester and overwhelm the South-West as they have unfortunately succeeded in doing in the North.
“We shall not cede the land of our birth to Fulani herdsmen and Islamist Jihadists,” Lawal said. “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 the lives and assets of our people choose to go after those who muster the courage to defend themselves.
“We will not seek nor wait for the permission of anyone 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 the Armed Forces to be proactive rather than reactionary in tackling non-state actors troubling the country.
According to OPC, the heightened insecurity appeared to be a ploy deliberately targeted at undermining the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
