From Rotimi Agboluaje, (Ibadan) and Adewale Momoh, (Akure)

• Says Aiyedatiwa incapacitated over killings
• Laments killing spree by armed nomads
• Group urges Southwest govs to procure sophisticated weapons for Amotekun
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ondo State chapter, has urged President Bola Tinubu to consider declaring a state of emergency in the state over the killing spree of farmers and residents of the state by armed nomads.
  
The party said that if the crude and unwarranted killings are not curbed, particularly with what it describes as incapacitation on the part of the state government in tackling the growing menace, the ugly trend might spiral into the entire Southwest.
  
According to the opposition party, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has failed in his primary constitutional responsibility of securing and protecting the lives of the people.
 
 A statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Leye Igbabo, and made available to The Guardian, the PDP expressed as worrisome the attitude of the governor, particularly his alleged decision to turn blind eyes to the activities of the herders.
  
Igbabo, who admonished Aiyedatiwa to be alive to his responsibilities and stop playing politics with the lives of the people, stressed that the killings are one too many and indicative of helplessness and hopelessness as well as compromise on the part of the state government.
  
He said: “The Peoples Democratic Party, Ondo State chapter, is alarmed by the ceaseless killings of hapless residents of the state, whose main offence is that they lawfully engage in their daily activities needed to bring food to their tables.
  
“The party cannot, in all honesty, find reasons why such assailants could operate without any form of resistance for months running in a state where there is said to be a valid government in place.
 
 “Aiyedatiwa has indeed failed in his constitutional duty as enshrined in Section 14(2) b of the 1999 Constitution as amended, in that he can no longer secure and protect the lives and property of citizens of Ondo State.
  
“The party is, by this statement, equally drawing the kind attention of President Bola Tinubu to these crude and unwarranted killings and to note the incapacitation of the state government in tackling the growing menace.
  
“The kind attention, under the prevailing circumstances, is to prepare him to consider the declaration of a state of emergency on insecurity in Ondo State if the state government continues to demonstrate a lack of capacity to halt the senseless killings before the state.
  
The opposition party further described as heart-wrenching that in less than one month, about 50 persons were gruesomely massacred in various settlements within the state, adding that no arrest or prosecution has been made.

The PDP, therefore, wonders if a government still exists in Ondo State in the face of these unprovoked and unrestrained killings.Meanwhile, a group, Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA), has called on the Southwest governors to procure AK47 and other sophisticated weapons for Amotekun officers to protect the region.
 
It maintained that the step would allow the security personnel to carry out their duties effectively.