Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said, yesterday, that Yoruba people are being restrained from violence following the spate of killings and kidnappings in the zone, warning that the South West should not be pushed to the wall.
He also said that the zone is interested in peace and unity in the country but not at the expense of the killings in the zone. The former minister said this while speaking with newsmen, in Akure, after a condolence visit to the leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.
He, however, called on “Yoruba people in all the states of the federation, especially those in the South West to defend themselves against attack from the marauding herdsmen.” Fani-Kayode said: “The Yoruba people should be law-abiding and maintain peace but not at the expense of killings by herdsmen.
“We want peace, unity, and love in Nigeria but not at the expense of killing our people. “Our people are being killed every day in every state of the South West. We now live under the threat of herdsmen.
“This is too bad. No region or tribe is superior to the other in Nigeria. We are all equal and we should be treated equally.”
Tasking the Federal Government to be alive to its responsibility of protecting the lives of all Nigerians, the former Minister said: “something strong and drastic should be done to curtail insecurity in the country.
We are beyond the era of rhetoric now. “We must do something to secure the lives of our people and the entire Yoruba nation must be secured irrespective of our political affiliation. “We, as leaders, will continue to encourage our people to allow peace reign in the South West and the country at large.
“The anger is high but we will continue to preach peace to the people. We want peace, unity and love in Nigeria but not at the expense of killing our people. We are restraining our people from violence but we should not be pushed to the wall.
“Therefore, the government must rise to the occasion and fight insecurity in the interest of peace and the continued existence of our nation. We are fed up with killings in South-Western Nigeria.”
Fani-Kayode commended the position of the South West Governors for kicking against nomadism in the region adding that “but, the hands of these Governors are tied.
I doubt if they will have the courage to say that to President Buhari because throughout their meeting in Akure, they did not mention herdsmen as the ones terrorizing our people.”
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