Yoruba self-determination and self-preservation group, Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, says the attack on St. Francis Catholic church in Owo, Ondo state by alleged Fulani terrorists, is a declaration of war on Yorubaland.
Prof Banji Akintoye, leader of the group, stated this in a statement issued through the group’s secretary on Sunday while condemning the attack that left many dead.
The group argued that it was time for the Yorubaland to gain independence from Nigeria.
The group of called on Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and other governors in the southwest region to declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the state.
“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 seriously. We warned them that there was fire on the mountain but we were mocked because of their personal aggrandizement,” the statement partly read
The group said that at the moment, the terrorists have encircled states in the South West, especially Lagos State, adding that their effrontery to descend on a church in Ondo and killed worshippers, says it all.
According to the group, states in the region are now in ‘a realistic danger’ because, for their own political interests, politicians have to listen to people like him, who are seriously calling for the disintegration of the country.
“For herdsmen to have the effrontery of bombarding a church in Yoruba land to kill about 85 people shows that we are now in a realistic danger.
“My urgent advice 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,” the group added.
According to the group, Yoruba will not continue to pretend to be part of Nigeria but should exit the country.
“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.
“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,” it concluded.
