Sunday Ani

Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland and leader of O’odua People’s Congress (OPC), Gani Adams has called on South West governors, traditional rulers and prominent sons as well as daughters of the Yoruba race to convene a security summit to address the many security challenges facing the region.

He said the level of insecurity in the region, particularly kidnapping, robbery and cultism, was unacceptable and called for an urgent action to arrest the ugly trend to forestall its possible negative effects on the economy of the zone.

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He made the call in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on media, Kehinde Aderemi, yesterday.

The call, according to Adams became necessary following the assassination of a commissioner on the board of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Mr. Bunmi Ojo, and the abduction of the former chairman of Akure North Local Government Area in Ondo State, Dele Fagoriola.

“Fagoriola was in his farm at Iju, Akure-Ikere Road, when six masked hoodlums stormed the place and abducted him for a ransom. The kidnappers initially demanded N10 million for his release. We thank God he has been set free, obviously after series of negotiations,” he said.

Adams, who said he had made a similar call in the past, maintained that the problem was spreading like wild fire because it was not given an urgent and decisive attention when it started.

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As the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, whose job is to promote peace and unity across the Yorubaland and beyond, he said he feels concerned and disturbed that the matter is so serious such that some Yoruba are being abducted on the highways. “If our people are afraid of going to their farms and travelling on the highways, then danger looms because our economy will be affected.

“We have a critical situation on our hands now in the South West, especially in Lagos, as well as Ogun and its environs, where young, unemployed graduates, secondary school students, and artisans involve themselves in cultism, kidnapping and killing,” he said.

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He reiterated the urgent need to arrest the ugly trend, saying, “Aside making money from this evil venture, these blood-thirsty maniacs want to destroy the economy of Yorubaland. That is why they must be stopped now. Kidnapping for ransom is already creating fear in Yorubaland. It is now spreading like wild fire because the perpetrators get high financial returns with less risk, unlike armed robbery which involves a lot of risk and high uncertainty.”

The OPC leader lamented that kidnappers no longer have respect for the aged as they kidnap young and old. He, therefore, called on the Yoruba race to rise to the occasion and take urgent steps to arrest the ugly trend.