Afenifere, pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Monday said leaders of the Yoruba nation would soon meet in Ibadan and review the state of the nation.
The group also rejected suggestions by the federal government on the proposed cattle colonies, saying the proposal was in contravention of 1999 Constitution.
The group’s national publicity secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, disclosed the plan of the Yoruba leaders to meet in Ibadan and take a position on t
herdsmen attacks, which he described as a grave source of concern.
Apart from the New Year attacks that claimed 73 in Benue State, some herdsmen allegedly killed a pregnant woman in Ekiti State and a man in Ogun State, thereby creating tension in all South-west states.
Likewise, suspected herdsmen on Sunday set ablaze the farm of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Olu Falae, in Abule Ilado, Ondo State, and equally destroyed about 45 hectares of a farm belonging to a former Chief of Naval Staff, Mr Sunday Afolayan, in Ibbo-Ile, Kwara State last week.
Following the incessant attacks, Odumakin said Yoruba leaders would take advantage of the meeting to review the place of Yoruba nation in Nigeria, lamenting that it would not sit and allow herdsmen to attack, kill and destroy the economy of its people.
He explained that the meeting had become imperative in the face of herdsmen attacks on South-west farmers, pointing out that leaders of Yoruba nation would never allow herders turn the region to slaughter slabs and conflict zone.
At the meeting, Odumakin said Yoruba leaders “will review the state of Nigeria at the meeting, look at the imminent partitioning of Nigeria, review the place of Yoruba in the federation, and discuss why we cannot rear our own cows in the South-west”.
He said: “Like other states in the federation, farmers have been killed in the South-west states. Women have been raped, several hectares of farm destroyed, and farm workers maimed and injured. Yet, the federal government has not made any arrest.
“Herdsmen are committing all these criminal activities with impunity. It is disappointing that no arrest has been made. No suspect has been prosecuted. This ugly trend is unacceptable. Something must be done to end the undue attacks on unarmed farmers.”
He noted that all these issues have vertical links with the restructuring of Nigeria.
“State governments have not been able to respond effectively because they do not have law enforcement agencies of their own. They depend on the Nigeria police, which unfortunately cannot protect them. That is why we are calling for state police,” he said.
Specifically, Odumakin rejected the federal government’s proposal to establish cattle colonies in states, describing it as an attempt by the powers that be to partition Nigeria.
Odumakin said the idea of cattle colonies was strange to 1999 Constitution, which gives powers over land to the state governments.
“Cattle colonies cannot resolve the challenge of the herdsmen-farmers’ conflict. Rather, cattle colonies will escalate herdsmen-farmers’ conflict.
“We are in total support of the establishment of ranches. If any person is interested in breeding cattle, let him or her approach the state government.
“He or she will be allocated a parcel of land for the purpose of establishing ranches alone. We reject cattle colonies in their entirety,” he said.
Thisday
