Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, said it had set up a panel to monitor activities of Fulani herdsmen in the South-West geopolitical zone.

This was contained in a communiqué issue at the end of the meeting of the association held at the residence of its leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Tuesday.

The communiqué was read to journalists by the Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.

The group, which condemned the menace of the herdsmen in the South-West and some other parts of the country, said the report of the panel would be shown to the international community about the havoc the herdsmen were causing in the geopolitical zone.

The communiqué added, “Herdsmen cannot continue to harass us, we are agrarian communities in the South-West, many of our people cannot farm again because herdsmen have taken over their farmlands, this cannot continue and that must stop immediately.

“To show our seriousness on this matter, we have empowered a panel to go round all communities in the South-West where herdsmen have been carrying out all kinds of havocs, to do an on-the-spot assessment and compile a report and do a documentary and we will not hesitate to take this to the international community to look at our case if the Nigeria government continues to prove that it is helpless or unwilling to tame criminal activities of these Fulani herdsmen.”

On the recent communal clash between Yoruba and Hausa communities in Ile-Ife, Afenifere said the police should desist from adding ethnic colouration to the incident, reiterating that it was unfair for the police to be one-sided in the arrest of suspects in the communal clash.

Meanwhile, the Orangun of Oke Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin, has blamed the crisis caused by rampaging herdsmen on the federalism system of government being operated in the country.

Oba Abolarin said this while delivering the College of Humanities lecture of the Redeemer’s University, Ede in Osun State on Tuesday.

He said, “That is a problem of federalism and we will overcome it but we need statesmen,  leaders of hope, who can negotiate and discuss how we can continue to live together without rancour.”

Punch