By Chukwudi Nweje
Afenifere has warned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, not to bring religious strife to the Yoruba and the South West.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Jare Ajayi, yesterday, condemned Gumi’s statement that Yorubaland belongs to people of a particular religion.
“As it is well-known, the Yoruba are quite liberal and tolerant of one another when it comes to religious faith, cultural practices and related social activities. For Gumi to declare any of the towns in Yorubaland as belonging to one religious faith is a way of inciting adherents of other faiths. This is unacceptable. He should not bring that divisive tendency or proclamation to Yorubaland.”
Afenifere also condemned the viral video of Gumi and Prof. Yusuf Usman’s visit to Igboho, Oyo State, where cattle were seen grazing openly near a school in Modeke area of Igboho, headquarters of Oorelope Local Government Area of the state.
It said the video shot at the birthplace of Yoruba nation agitator, Mr. Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, is provocative and inciting.
“In many parts of Yorubaland today, people are reluctant to confront herders grazing on their property, not because they are comfortable with it, but because they are afraid of being attacked by the armed herders. And they know that if attacked and they complain to the authorities, they are not likely to get justice.
“This, among other reasons, was even what gave birth to agitations for a Yoruba nation out of the present Nigeria nation. As Nigerians, both Sheikh Gumi and Usman have the right to visit anywhere in the country and are entitled to freely express themselves.
“But the circumstance of their visit to Igboho and what they said while in the town are not only provocative and inciting but also a way of mocking the people of the area and the person of Sunday Adeyemo.”
Afenifere condemned the statement credited to Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Awwal Gambo, when he visited Kano Governor, Alhaji Umar Ganduje that a Naval base will be established in the state, as an absurdity carried too far saying naval bases are normally sited on the seaside for effective service delivery.