Afenifere, others fault attack on Oyo Assembly
Seek punishment for perpetrators, sponsors Akintoye disowns invaders, violent struggle
From Seye Olumide,
Rotimi Agboluaje ( Ibadan),
Kehinde Olatunji ( Lagos) and Timothy Agbor ( Osogbo)
THE pan- Yoruba socio- cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, condemned the invasion of Oyo State House of Assembly in its entirety.
Afenifere, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, said that those who took the sad step did not act in the interest of the Yoruba they alleged to be representing.
It would be recalled that some people, who claimed to be Yoruba nation agitators, stormed the premises of Oyo State House of Assembly on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
The invaders and a video clip making the rounds claimed that a purported ' Democratic Republic of the Yoruba' had been created out of Nigeria.
But Afenifere stated that there is no such group as the Democratic Republic of the Yoruba.
Ajayi said that how the invaders embarked on their misconceived mission indicated that they did not apply sense whatsoever.
He, therefore, urged a thorough investigation to ensure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law.
ALSO, a group, under the aegis of the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate ( CPPM), has condemned the attack, describing it as an "act of terrorism." In a statement, yesterday, by its Executive Director, Nelson Ekujumi, in Lagos, the group urged the security agencies to dig deeper into the activities of the terrorist association called Yoruba nation agitators who have assaulted and undermined national security and are warming up to be in the mould of Indigenous People of Biafra/ Eastern Security Network ( IPOB/ ESN$ and Boko Haram.
The group, which warned that Nigeria as a country could not afford to allow the threat to national security by another terrorist group in the name of Yoruba nation agitators, urged punishment for the miscreants before they develop into monsters.
MEANWHILE, the Yoruba leader, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has disowned those who called themselves Yoruba Nation agitators and invaded the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Ibadan.
In a voice- note made available to The Guardian, yesterday, Akintoye said the behaviour of the so- called agitators was insane.
Akintoye said that those going violent about the actualisation of the Yoruba nation wanted to destroy the struggle, saying that the agitators have nothing to do with the real Yoruba struggle.
'' There is no need for us to go violent. We are not part of the violence that anyone is propagating. Everything we do must be peaceful. All our acts are peaceful,” he said.
RELATEDLY, Chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group ( ARG), Wale Oshun, yesterday, said the group that attacked the Oyo State House of Assembly was neither here nor there.