The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, again, on Tuesday, expressed deep concern over the recurring incidences of kidnapping and terror attacks in Yorubaland and other parts of the country.
In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said it was worrisome that acts of criminality continued to escalate with terrorists sacking communities, setting fire to households, and maiming people with reckless abandon.
Afenifere mentioned recent instances of the kidnapping of a trader at Jinarere in Ibadan; the abduction of two staffers of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company on Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road; attacks on families in Ondo and Ekiti; the killing of farmers in Tede, Ago-Are and the killing of military police men in Tenibo/Kenanji in Kwara State.
The group also lamented the abduction of members of the National Youth Service Corps, desertion of palaces by some traditional rulers in Kwara State as a result of bandits’ incessant attacks, raids of an orphanage, churches, mosques, markets and households in various states.
The statement read, “Before now, reports of incidents of this nature used to be from other climes. But these days, the horrendous incidents are also occurring in Yorubaland of Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara and parts of Kogi.
“We are deeply concerned about this, just as we are uncomfortable with the sacking of communities, kidnapping, killing, livestock rustling, arson and maiming of people in some other parts of the country, particularly in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Nassarawa, Katsina, Borno, Bauchi, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory; to mention a few.”
On abductions of youth corps members and graduates on the way to NYSC orientation camps, the group urged the Federal Government, through the National Youth Service Corps, to mandate that corps members undergo their one-year programme in their respective states.
He said, “Sodiq Ogunlana, a LASU graduate, was shot and abducted on his way to Orientation Camp in Ede, Osun State; Lateefah, a graduate of Kwara Polytechnic, was abducted on her way to the NYSC camp in Taraba State, as well as Gift David Samiya, abducted on the Akwanga-Jos road while going to the camp.
“Afenifere first made this call as far back as 2021 when some youth corps members were attacked by bandits. Recent happenings compel us to reiterate our earlier call in this respect. No Nigerian or anybody else deserves to be kidnapped or killed extra-judicially.
“Youth corpers deserve special treatment because of their peculiar nature. For this reason, if the scheme could not be suspended, a modification should be brought to it in such a way that participants would be mobilised to serve in their respective states or states of residence rather than having to be posted to states far away from the areas they are familiar with.”
On tackling banditry and terrorism, Afenifere advocated that non-kinetic methods should be widely adopted.
Noting that most attacks on communities are carried out by bandits using motorbikes, Ajayi submitted that the failure of security forces to tackle them tends to vindicate Afenifere’s postulation that the battle against terrorism and banditry has not been won.
According to him, the battle has not been won because of the complicity of some unscrupulous people within the security service, powerful people in the community and in government circles.
The statement added, “A convoy of armed youths on motorbikes ought to attract the attention of security agencies at any level and in any climate. Reports have it that those who attacked communities in Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Borno, Plateau and Benue states usually rode on motorbikes.
“They cover their faces and carry arms. It is difficult to believe that such convoys would escape the surveillance radar of security agencies.
“For such groups to be able to get to their targets and carry out their dastardly acts successfully tends to suggest that there is complicity at the highest level, including among some powerful people in the communities.
“Those carrying out mining, especially illegal mining, are other elements Afenifere wants the government to beam a searchlight on.
“Indications are that illegal miners tend to move into some communities shortly after the residents were attacked, sent packing and/or forced into captivity.”
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