Yoruba leaders condemn nomads’ activities in South West

Southwest leaders, under the aegis of Yoruba Summit group, have condemned the activities of herdsmen in South West and parts of the federation.
  
Rising from a meeting yesterday in Lagos, they warned that the region might resort to self-defence if protection of lives and properties was no longer guaranteed.

Present at the gathering were Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Prof. Banji Akintoye; Dr Amos Akingba; Secretary General, Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr. Kunle Olajide; delegates to the 2014 National Conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu; former Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu; for governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; erstwhile deputy governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofo Bucknor-Akerele and Mr. Goke Omisore.

Others are Chief Supo Sonibare; Dr. Femi Adegoke Oladipo Olaitan; Otunba Deji Osibogun; Mrs. Tokunbo Ekukinam and Mr. Bolaji Ogunseye.

Adebanjo, who presided over the meeting, condemned the criminal activities by the herdsmen across Yorubaland in recent times, manifest in the killing of a pregnant woman in Ekiti and the setting ablaze and destruction of the farm of one-time Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Chief Olu Falae and properties of eminent citizens.
   
He said the renewed attacks were unwarranted, provocative and brutal.
 
The parley called on the Federal Government to arrest and prosecute the killer herdsmen and sponsors with a view to regaining the confidence of the people. The summit opposed the proposal by the government to establish cattle colonies nationwide, saying the contemplation offends the sensibilities of the indigenes, likening the entire scenario to the Berlin Conference where Africa was portioned for different colonial powers to allow for its ‘invasion.’

The leaders also urged Yoruba people to venture into modern ranching for home consumption and export while encouraging every state government in the region to put in place policies that promote the concept.
 
They also called on the Federal Government to declare the killer herdsmen and militias as terrorists disarm them and probe the source of their arms.