Ondo Catholic Church Attack Is A Declaration Of War On Yoruba People — Akintoye

Prof Banji Akintoye, leader of the apex body for Yoruba self-determination and self-preservation movement, Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide has condemned Sunday’s terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo-State.

Akintoye, in a statement issued by Maxwell Adeleye, the Secretary of the group, said the attack is a declaration of war on Yoruba people, adding that it is time to gain independence from Nigeria.

The historian called on the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and other governors in the southwest region to declare an emergency against the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the state.

The statement read, “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.

“Today, we have all been encircled, most especially, in Lagos. 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.

“We have now been taken for granted. We need not pretend anymore. We must demand unanimously, an exit from Nigeria.

“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. It is time to leave these characters now. All stakeholders – the elites, traditional rulers, our women should act now.

“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.”