They also vowed not to give any part of Yoruba land to any tribe under any guise.
The leaders also charged all regional security outfits, such as the Amotekun Corps, the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Agbekoya, Vigilante group and hunters, among others, to take charge of security in the region.
The Yoruba leaders, led by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, who converged on the ancient Mapo Hall in Ibadan, said Yoruba nation was worried by the unfolding anarchy as it affects South-West region by the daily occurrence of kidnappings, arson, maiming, destruction of economic facilities and killings.
The group leaders, in the communique issued and read by Secretary-General of Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr. Kunle Olajide, said the Federal Government should see those perpetrating the evil acts as criminals and not bandits.
The communique decried the statement credited to the Defence Minister, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, advising Nigerians to begin to defend themselves.
The communique stated in part: “The Yoruba nation notes with dismay the general state of the insecurity in the country and ancestral space of Yoruba nation, especially, a situation that has compelled a rigorous interrogation of our situation.
“That the Yoruba nation is currently living in a time of bad metaphors due to the almost irreversible abyss of dismal due to cases of daily incessant insecurity.
“That the Congress supports the establishment of Amotekun as an additional unit in the security architecture in Yorubaland while advising that the initiative be stretched further by allowing operatives of the outfit bear reasonable arms.
“The Congress lends its voice in support of adoption of Yoruba national anthem by Osun and Ondo states while recommending the same to remaining states of the South-West.”
MEANWHILE, Makinde has promised to incorporate non-state actors into the security architecture of the state.
Makinde said: “At the last security meeting we had, I created a War Room because the issue of security is beyond rhetoric. I also set up a task force on security, which I am chairing, and one of the decisions we took there is that in the security architecture of Oyo State, we must now incorporate non-state actors.”
