- Tasks Humanitarian Agencies Of Govt On Managing Situation
- 'It's A Declaration Of War On Yorubas, Says Prof Banji Akinloye, Leader Of Yoruba Group
By Suzan Bassey (Governance Reporter)
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, reacted to the bloody attack on Owo Catholic Church in Ondo State in which scores of worshippers were killed and many injured, describing it as a fiendish act.
The President expressed shock and sadness over pre-meditated killing through a statement on Sunday, June 5, 2022 by his Chief Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina.
The attack occurred this Sunday at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo Kingdom, in Ondo State, South West Nigeria.
Buhari, while flaying the gun massacre, said the act was dastard and eternal sorrow awaits those behind the blood-letting both here on earth and in the hereafter.
According to President Buhari in the statement: “only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such dastardly act. Eternal sorrow awaits them both on earth here, and ultimately in the hereafter.”
He however commiserates with the families of the dead and the wounded, the Catholic Church, and the Government of Ondo State, and charged the Humanitarian agencies to quickly attend to the emergencies so as to bring succour to the wounded.
Buhari was quoted in the statement as saying, “No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome the light. Nigeria will eventually win.”
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, IOOW, Professor Banji Akintoye, in him own reaction same Sunday, however described the deadly attack as a declaration of war against the people of the Yoruba nation.
Prof Akinloye spoke through the Communications Secretary of IOOW, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye. He urged Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani Herdsmen in the state with immediate effect.
The renowned scholar said the effontery of the Fulani Marauders needs to be frankly and courageously confronted so as to prove to their sponsors that the Yoruba people can never be intimidated or subjugated.
He said: “We have stated it very expressly that the Yoruba people need to negotiate their exit from Nigeria as a matter of urgency but our Partisan Political Actors in Yoruba Land never took us serious. We warned them that there’s fire on the mountain but we were mocked because of their personal aggrandizement.
“Today, we have all been encircled, most especially, in Lagos. For Herdsmen to have the effontery of bombarding a Church in Yoruba Land to kill about 85 people 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 brutalize, subjugate and even exterminate us. It is time to leave these characters now. All Stakeholders – the Elites, Traditional Rulers, Our Women should act now.
“All the South West States, including the Yoruba Leaders in Kogi and Kwara States should equally declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani Herdsmen. We must now take our destinies into our hands.” (Additional reports from vanguard). NNL.
