OPC spoke in the light of US President Donald Trump threat to send in American forces to finish off Islamist terrorists and jihadists killing citizens in Nigeria.

The call was made in a statement by its Secretary-General, Olubunmi Fasehun.

The statement reads:

“The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) wishes to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the peace, unity, and security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At this critical moment in our nation’s history, when terrorism, banditry and kidnapping continue to threaten our communities, we believe that proactive collaboration among stakeholders is more crucial than ever, be they local or foreign.

“In the light of the offer by US President Donald Trump to send in the American contingent to help wipe out terrorism, which is fast making Nigeria a dangerous space, we urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tap into the advantages of such a collaboration against evil non-state actors who have stretched the patriotic troops of our country’s Military to the limit.

“Additionally, the Federal Government should task the US and other developed nations to freeze the assets of terrorism financiers in Nigeria and anywhere in the world.

“Our position has always been clear: Security is a shared responsibility.  And OPC shall be willing to contribute our own quota to confront, defeat and expunge these terrorists from Yorubaland and indeed the entire country.

“Over the past decades, OPC has demonstrated its deep presence at the grassroots level, especially across the Yoruba space in the South-West, Kogi, Kwara, Edo and Delta states. Our members live within the communities, markets, border towns, and rural corridors where vital intelligence can be gathered. We therefore recognize that our organization is uniquely positioned to support the efforts of security agencies in preventing, detecting and reporting threats before they escalate.

“Partnership With Security Agencies

We are ready to partner more closely and formally with the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Armed Forces and other relevant agencies in the following areas:

“1. Community-based intelligence gathering:

OPC members will serve as the eyes and ears within our communities, relaying verified information on suspicious activities, criminal infiltration and movement of armed groups.

“2. Rapid communication channels:

We are establishing dedicated communication lines to ensure quick transmission of intel to the appropriate authorities without delays or bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“3. Joint community sensitization:

We will collaborate with security agencies to educate residents on the importance of reporting strange movements and criminal hideouts, particularly in border and forested areas.

“4. Peaceful and lawful operations:

OPC remains fully committed to working within the framework of the law, without engaging in any form of jungle justice or unauthorized enforcement activity.

“Not Vigilantism — But Structured Community Security Support

We reiterate that our role is not to replace the government or the security forces, but to complement them. When civilians contribute information and work hand-in-hand with lawful authorities, crime prevention becomes easier, faster, and more effective.

“A Call For Political Will

We also urge the Federal Government to take bold steps in confronting powerful individuals and networks long perceived as “untouchable” — those who benefit from or enable terrorism, banditry and ethnoreligious killings. The security of citizens must come before politics.

“Based on the hotly-debated international offer, Nigeria now has a strategic opportunity to dismantle these entrenched structures of violence. We encourage the government to seize this moment with courage and transparency, using lawful intelligence-driven action and international cooperation where necessary.

“Conclusion

The OPC stands for a safe and secure Yoruba homeland within a stable Nigeria.

“We remain open to structured, continuous engagement with security agencies and policymakers to ensure that the Yoruba space in the South-West, Kogi, Kwara, Edo and Delta states remains a place of safety, economic growth and communal harmony.”

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OPC also urged Tinubu to organise compensation for hundreds of victims of military brutality during the struggle for June 12.

In a press statement on Tuesday by OPC president, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, the organisation showered praises on Tinubu for placing its medical doctor-turned-OPC founder in the honours list announced on June 12, 2025.

The group said it was a befitting recognition for the sacrifices that Fasehun and his organisation made to give birth to the current Nigerian democracy and the Fourth Republic.

Although he said the honour was coming 32 years after the onset of the current republic, Afolabi said: “This honour is better late than never.”

He added: “After granting those who are well-deserving of the national honour, the president should take the further noble step to implement a compensation scheme for those who lost life, limb and livelihood in the course of the struggle for this democracy. This compensation will be in line with the recommendation of the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission under Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, also known as the Oputa Panel.

“Moreover, the present crop of politicians has become beneficiaries of the sweat and blood of those whom the Military under Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha oppressed, assaulted and killed over the struggle for June 12 and democracy.

READ ALSO: CBN takes steps to strengthen banking sector, issues guidance

“Hundreds of OPC members, committed to the struggle to restore democracy to Nigeria, were attacked, maimed for life and murdered by General Abacha’s security forces, especially after OPC became affiliated with the umbrella organ for the June 12 struggle, NADECO.

“Dr. Fasehun was personally brutalised, arrested and incarcerated severally; his hospital, hotel and other businesses collapsed; but he remained undaunted and true to the struggle.

“But as God would have it, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a NADECO chieftain and frontrunner in the June 12 struggle, has today become the country’s president and Commander-in-Chief.”

OPC especially praised the Nigerian president for extending the national award to other patriotic Nigerians, living and dead, who struggled for democracy and ensured the exit of the military from governance.

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In a statement on Wednesday in Lagos by the Late OPC Founder’s son, Mr. Remi Fasehun, the family described the omission of the foremost democracy activist in the president’s list as uncharitable, ungrateful and unpardonable.

“The President was a beneficiary of our father’s activism and sacrifice for democracy,” the younger Fasehun said on behalf of the Estate.

“Not only were they in the trenches together, Fasehun helped Tinubu to escape into exile. In fact, it is on record that, when General Sani Abacha’s squad surrounded Senator Abraham Adesanya residence where they held a meeting, Tinubu mounted the back of Fasehun and jumped the fence to flee into hiding and subsequently into exile.

“Several people, who escaped from the country into exile and joined NADECO-Abroad, including Pa Anthony Enahoro, were personally taken by boat and bush paths, through the NADECO Route, by Dr. Fasehun. He was at a point the link between Pa Enahoro-NADECO and NUPENG, the union that played a pivotal role in that struggle.

“He was thrown into prison several times by the General Sani Abacha junta, in Kirikiri, Ilorin and Kuje. At the infamous Inter Centre in Ikoyi Cemetery, he was held incommunicado for several months, an experience that inflicted immense damage on him physically and psychologically, to the extent of leaving his vision impaired for life.

“His family and businesses paid dearly for his struggle for democracy. Today, his wife and children still pay the price of their father’s sacrifice to birth the democracy Nigeria has today.”

They said Fasehun’s hospitality business, Century Hotel, as well as his Besthope Hospital in Lagos, were today a shadow of the flourishing enterprises they used to be before he threw himself into the struggle for June 12.

University of Aberdeen-trained Medical Doctor and Africa’s first Acupuncturist, Dr. Fasehun died December 1, 2018 in Lagos at the age of 83.

READ ALSO: FOR THE RECORD: Tinubu’s speech on 2024 Democracy Day

Furthermore, according to the statement, Fasehun specifically founded the socio-cultural group, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), in 1994, as a vehicle for wresting democracy from the sit-tight military junta.

“To ignore such an inimitable icon as Dr. Frederick Isiotan Fasehun from any so-called list of June 12 and Democratic Heroes smacks of crass injustice and inexplicable vendetta,” his Estate declared.

It recalled that in the struggle for June 12, hundreds of OPC members paid the supreme price, through extra-judicial killings by overzealous and ill-advised security agents.

“We only hope that in the name of fairness and justice, the President will correct this anomaly and place Dr. Fasehun in Nigeria’s democratic Hall of Fame as he very well deserves,” the Estate said.

“Truth should not be sacrificed on the altar of politics, however. Dr. Fasehun should be given his well-deserved historical recognition as a true Nigerian Hero of Democracy,” the statement declared.

While acknowledging that leading a huge nation like Nigeria could be a Herculean task, the Fasehuns urged  Tinubu to put welfare packages in place to ameliorate the unprecedented poverty, inflation and insecurity bedeviling citizens.

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Noting that Tinubu’s victory would bring some measure of pride to those who made sacrifices in the struggle for the June 12, OPC, through a statement by its President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, recalled that the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate was in the trenches with its late founder and president, Dr. Frederick Fasehun.

Afolabi, president of the socio-cultural organisation, said in the statement: “OPC congratulates Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for this historical achievement of being declared winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential elections.

“Leading a 200 million-strong nation like Nigeria will not be a small task. So much hope and expectations are pinned on Asiwaju and he cannot afford to fail.

“As OPC, our prayer is that God will grant the President-elect greater ability to record greater achievements than he did in his eight years as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.

“May God grant this country peace, progress and prosperity, as it has never experienced, under this coming regime of Bola Tinubu. May God grant him the wisdom and the health to carry out this great task of nation-building.

“However, because Nigerians have never been this divided and insecure since the end of the Nigerian Civil War, the first task that Bola Tinubu must undertake, when he is sworn in on May 29, is that of reuniting this severely divided, disunited and insecure nation.

“Tinubu must heed to the yearnings of pro-democracy organisations like NADECO and even our late founder, Dr. Fasehun, by laying the foundation of a Nigeria founded on the enthronement of true federalism. We advise Tinubu to embark on the immediate restructuring of this country.

“Taming poverty and inflation remains an urgent task. The country’s four refineries must work before any move to tamper with the fuel subsidy. Other governments failed in giving Nigeria home-refined domestic fuel, Asiwaju must take this as an immediate challenge.

“Tinubu is a product of the struggle. He came from the trenches. He was forced to go into exile by the General Sani Abacha killer-squad, and he remained steadfast to the cause. He deployed his influence, connections and resources to advance the struggle of NADECO-Abroad.

“OPC is proud to have been established in 1994 in the furnace of the fire for the struggle of June 12, just like other groups under NADECO. Our Late Founder and President, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, led our group to the forefront and trenches of that struggle. And we shall be happy to play a role to see to the success of the incoming government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

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Speaking in Lagos amidst reports in the social media that some Yoruba self-determination groups had put machinery in motion to unleash violence on non-indigenes in Lagos and the South-West, OPC President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi said that citizens should go about campaigns and voting without fear of harassment, intimidation and violence.

In a statement signed by Bunmi Fasehun, OPC General Secretary, Afolabi said: “Anyone caught planning to foment trouble or actually perpetrating violence should be treated as a criminal and handed over to law-enforcement agencies for arrest and prosecution.

“We cherish the peace that we enjoy in the South-West today and we shall guard it jealously. OPC has contributed greatly to this peaceful environment and we will do nothing to jeopardise it. Whoever is planning electoral violence, whether he is a Yoruba man or not, will have OPC to contend with. OPC will not tolerate any plan, attempt or move aimed at intimidating voters or preventing anyone from freely expressing their democratic choice.

“Politics should not be a do-or-die affair. OPC will neither subscribe to do-or-die politics nor be used to implement the nefarious and evil plans of politicians.

“In our midst are responsible businessmen and businesswomen, graduates and artisans, as well as students of higher institutions and Muslim and Christian clergymen. Our organisation will not be used for political thuggery before, during or after the elections.”

Dismissing allegations that some self-determination groups might be planning to unleash mayhem on certain ethnic groups who might vote against the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the OPC leader said: “The security agencies should do their job – hunt out such potential troublemakers and destroy such a plan.”

Afolabi urged Lagos and South-West politicians to learn from other parts of the country and the world where people were armed to get individuals into power only for such arms to be used to turn such places into enclaves of war and terrorism.

According to him, OPC was no stranger to democracy as its leaders emerged through the democratic process as laid down by the late founder, Dr. Frederick Fasehun.

Afolabi said: “OPC is a non-religious and non-political Yoruba socio-cultural organisation. Within the organisation, members belong to different political affiliations. It is their right and no one can dictate to them. OPC respects its members’ individual right to freedom of association and freedom of thought.

“Moreover, Yoruba people enjoy cordial and fraternal relations with all ethnic groups in the country –Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Edo, Tiv and others. We do business together and we have even intermarried. So, how can we now attack our in-laws and business partners because of some individuals’ selfish political ambition?

“Hundreds of OPC members shed their blood to purchase this democracy that we enjoy today. We will never be part of destroying what we built with our own hands and the blood of our people.”

Afolabi recalled that the OPC’s founder, also, formed the Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria, CENN, as an umbrella body and platform to promote unity and understanding among the country’s regions.

Suing for peaceful elections, the OPC president warned politicians to desist from turning the elections into a battlefield.

“As has always been our prerogative, we shall be extending our hand of fellowship to security agencies to ensure the election is smooth and peaceful,” Afolabi said.

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Afolabi said that the organisation’s initial investigations showed that no member of OPC was involved in the disturbances and none had fallen casualty by omission or commission.

However, Afolabi seized the opportunity to demand that the government must ensure freedom for the 31 victims kidnapped on Saturday by suspected herdsmen at the Igueben train station in Edo State.

“There is absolutely no reason to associate OPC with what happened today in Ojota, Lagos. People were simply talking from the figment of their imagination. Just like any other person, we heard news of the disturbances through social media. When I made phone calls to my members around the axis and elsewhere, they said they knew nothing about the crisis,” he said, in a statement by OPC General Secretary, Comrade Bunmi Fasehun.

“Nobody should drag OPC into a matter that does not concern us and today’s problem is none of our business,” the OPC president said.

According to Afolabi, OPC stood for a peaceful resolution of all Nigeria’s questions.

“We took to the streets in 1994 to press for the exit of the military and the enthronement of democracy. We have since won democracy. Now we believe that resolution of national questions should come through dialogue. There is nothing that cannot be tabled for discussion,” he said. “And we will be the last to cause a breakdown of law and order, especially in our home constituency anywhere in the South-West and adjoining states.”

Nevertheless, OPC sued for peace in the Ojota crisis.

READ ALSO: OPC marks fourth year of Fasehun’s death, speaks on elections

Describing the killings of peaceful protesters as needless, OPC said that security agencies must guarantee and respect citizens’ right to life and right to peaceful procession.

“We are watching the development in Edo State with keen interest. Edo has a sizable number of OPC members. And we feel it is insulting, unacceptable and provocative for foreign elements to continue to kidnap Nigerians and make our rural areas unsafe for law-abiding citizens,” Afolabi said.

He urged the security agencies to ensure that the kidnapped victims were recovered and their abductors brought to answer for their crime in the court of law.

According to him, it was strange that kidnappers would establish camps in the forests without the knowledge of police and security agents, until they strolled into town to kidnap and kill people at will.

“This is unacceptable,” he said, adding, “Security agencies must collaborate with organisations like OPC, Amotekun, Ebubeagwu and Atanakpa to flush out these foreign criminals from the country.”

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OPC national executives, led by the president, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, spoke after a meeting in Lagos to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of their Fasehun, who transited on December 1, 2018.

In a press statement by OPC General Secretary, Comrade Bunmi Fasehun, the group also said it was yet to formally adopt any candidate for the 2023 elections, be it for the legislative, governorship, or presidency.

Afolabi said on his predecessor’s demise: “We must commiserate with our mother, Deaconess Iyabo Fasehun, on this occasion of the fourth anniversary of the death of our founder and president, Dr. Frederick Isiotan Fasehun. We pray that God will continue to keep Mama and the children. And may God continue to steer the leaders of OPC to continue in the laudable steps laid by our legendary leader in the advancement of democracy and the welfare and protection of Yoruba people and their neighbours.”

According to the OPC president, the current hardship faced by Nigerians was a remarkable departure from what Fasehun fought for when he founded OPC in 1994 as part of the struggle to enthrone democracy.

Afolabi submitted: “This democracy we see is certainly not the democracy fought for by Fasehun, MKO Abiola, Anthony Enahoro, Dan Suleiman, Arthur Nwankwo, Abraham Adesanya, Kudirat Abiola, Gani Fawehinmi and other heroes.

“It is unfortunate that unlike these heroes of democracy, driven by the vision of a Nigeria that will work for Nigerians, our current leaders in the Fourth Republic have continued to lead Nigerians deeper and deeper into despair and poverty. Nigeria wallows in debt and Nigerians wallow in poverty.

READ ALSO: OPC condemns prohibitive costs of fuel, gas, warns Buhari

“Corruption reigns at all levels and it is carried out with great impunity, with politicians and public servants getting away with corrupt enrichment.

“Nigerians are suffering under the current situation of costly foodstuffs and essential commodities. People are embracing the ‘Japa Syndrome’ and fleeing Nigeria through highly risky means and routes. Suffering Nigerians are being driven to commit suicide because of the current hardship. Something needs to be done in a hurry to bring hope to despondent Nigerians.

“A bag of rice has risen to N45,000, an amount that is 150 per cent of the minimum wage, and more than seven times the N6,000 it was when Buhari took over in 2015 from Goodluck Jonathan government tagged as clueless and corrupt.

“Cooking gas has risen to over N10,000 from less than N2,000. The prices of cooking kerosine, aviation fuel and diesel have shot through the roof, with the government appearing to have no solutions.”

The group said that in 2023, Nigerians must choose political leaders at all levels capable of delivering the dividends of democracy and alleviate the current hardship faced by the people.

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This is as it called on the president to licence governors to acquire superior assault weapons to confront bandits, terrorists and unknown gunmen currently unleashing death and terror across the country.

OPC president, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi (also known as “Askari”) gave the message on Sunday in Lagos in a press statement signed by the group’s General Secretary, Bunmi Fasehun.

The highpoints of the statement include:

“The urgent need for the Federal Government to expedite action to free other abductees still in captivity anywhere in the country

“Granting licences for states to acquire superior weapons that that would enable them counter terrorists, bandits and unknown gunmen, in line with the request by Ondo State’s Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and others.

“President Buhari revisiting and implementing the resolutions of the National Conference of 2014 before handing over power.”

Afolabi said: “All is well that ends well. We congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and his security team for ensuring a happy ending to this Kaduna train kidnapping story, an ugly episode that was an international embarrassment to our country.

READ ALSO: Owo killing: OPC speaks, gives S’West governors ultimatum to meet

“However, the government must expedite action to secure the release of other citizens in captivity, using the template that worked in the release of the kidnapped Abuja-Kaduna train passengers.

“Going forward, the president must heed the calls of governors who, as chief security officers of their states, currently lament their helplessness and inability to protect citizens from heavily armed terrorists and bandits spreading sorrows, tears and blood.

“It is clear that the statutory Police, Army and security forces are overwhelmed by the outbreak of unprovoked hostilities perpetrated by non-state fighters across the country.

“As they say, a violent action must be met with an equal if not a greater reaction. Unfortunately, the current situation makes it appear as if the federal government expects that Nigerian citizens would use stones, catapults and sticks to confront bandits and terrorists armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and explosives. Every day, these animals continue to kill, knowing that their victims lack the arms and capacity to defend themselves properly. Things cannot continue this way.

“President Buhari must heed the call of governors and allow them to acquire sophisticated  armouries to confront the present danger.

“The federal government cannot hide behind the one-finger of the fear of small arms being further proliferated by granting permission for governors to arm their security outfits. No! Governors, as strategic security custodians, will be able to account for the movement and expenditure of every gun, every bullet and their handlers.

“By denying governors these weapons, it appears that The Presidency is taking sides with the terrorists against law-abiding Nigerians, who are being kidnapped, raped, slaughtered and displaced into IDP camps. It is time for the federal government to take sides clearly with the people against these beasts of no nation (as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti called them) posing an existential threat to lives, livelihoods and assets.

“State governors are the best custodians of the arms and ammunitions that are needed to confront the bandits and terrorists. However, if the government refuses to provide an orderly avenue to confront this evil, the people may resort to self-help and anarchy would be the result, as happened in Somalia and Sudan.

“The primary aim of government is to provide security for the people. Any government that fails in this primary responsibility of providing security is a total failure.”

However, OPC said granting licences to governors would be no replacement for state police and restructuring, which would be the truest reflection of true federalism as enshrined in Nigeria’s independence statutes.

The group said: “OPC Founder, the late Dr. Frederick Fasehun, and others spent several years clamouring for a Sovereign National Conference, which President Goodluck Jonathan partly granted.

“Resolutions contained in the 2014 National Conference document must be revisited and implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari before he hands over power. That is the only way to silence the calls for the disintegration of Nigeria. Without coexisting on discussed and agreed terms, Nigeria will continue to stumble from crisis to crisis.”

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Oshun said it became necessary to pay Mrs. Fasehun a courtesy visit in order for her to bestow her blessing on the newly constituted OPC-BOT.

While apprising her with the BOT’s plans to sustain the organisation, especially at a critical state of the nation’s life, Oshun, during the visit of Sunday, March 6, 2022, observed that Mrs. Fasehun must be given due credit and recognition as a co-traveller with her husband during the struggle to enthrone democracy in Nigeria.

Former Chief Whip in the House of Representatives, Oshun, is Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, and also chairman of the newly-constituted OPC BOT.

Other members of the BOT present were Bashorun Kunle Adesokan and Comrade Jubril Ogundimu; OPC President, Otunba Wasiu Idowu Afolabi; the Secretary-General, Comrade Bunmi Fasehun, and the General Officer Commanding, Comrade Babatunde Adewale.

Afolabi, OPC President, said that the organisation would readily collaborate with the government to confront insecurity whenever it was invited to do so.

“We realise that if we cannot keep our environment peaceful, we too cannot live in peace,” he said. “As a result, OPC is ever-ready to play its traditional role of tackling any threat by anybody to security anywhere in the South-West.”

Welcoming the visitors to her home in Okota area of Lagos, Deaconess Iyabo Fasehun thanked Oshun and the other trustees for remaining steadfast and supportive of the organisation after the death of its founder.

She however enjoined OPC members everywhere to operate in love for one another as that was the basis for her husband founding the organisation.

She said, “It was the love for the Yoruba race and Nigeria that made my husband found the Oodua People’s Congress to demand for the rights of every man and woman of Yoruba origin, as well as to ensure social justice for all Nigerians.”

While commending the new OPC executive and BOT for sustaining the legacy of Fasehun who died on December 1, 2018, she described the group as a pacesetter, recalling that it was after it was founded in 1994 that other regional and self-determination organisations sprang up.

Furthermore, Deaconess Fasehun said OPC must educate members to eschew violence, and that it must leverage on its huge size to remain united and lead by example.

Mrs. Fasehun, who last October adorned Afolabi with the insignia of office as OPC President, urged members of different factions to return to the mainstream under him, as that, she said, would be the wish of the late founder who in his lifetime had appointed him Deputy President of the congress.

A BOT member and former OPC Secretary, Bashorun Adesokan, said that the contribution of Fasehun to the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria could never be over-emphasised, and that history would be kind to the founder for the role he played.

Ogundimu said: “The spirit of the founder of OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, can never die. It lives on in the group and in Mama as evident in the way Mama carried on to uphold the legacy of her husband.”

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This is as the group also offered to assist Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in enforcing the deadline issued herdsmen to vacate forest reserves in Ondo State.

Otunba Wasiu Afolabi (alias “Askari”), Deputy President to the Late OPC founder, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, made the warning at the weekend in a statement following an emergency meeting of OPC leaders at the Century Hotel, Okota, Lagos.

Pointing out that no Southerner would dare go to the North and carry out killing, kidnapping and banditry that Fulani criminals had unleashed on Southern communities and highways, OPC issued a stern warning.

“ACF is threatening reprisals instead of telling its prodigal sons to halt their criminality. ACF should know that nobody has a monopoly over violence,” said the Yoruba socio-cultural group.

“Although the millions of law-abiding Fulani men and women living in our midst have absolutely no cause for alarm, those Fulani criminals hiding under the cloak of being herdsmen to perpetrate evil against law-abiding citizens should know their time is up. Henceforth, it will be fire for fire.”

Afolabi expressed his group’s backing for the pronouncement issued by the Ondo State governor that herdsmen should leave forests for open areas by Monday.

In the words of Afolabi: “We are fully prepared to help enforce Governor Akeredolu’s quit notice in Ondo State at the expiration of the two-week deadline. Anybody found in the jungle will be regarded as a kidnapper and bandit and will be appropriately dealt with. We Yoruba shall rise up to defend our land from foreign marauders who daily rape our women, kill our farmers and kidnap Nigerian citizens. Enough is enough.”

OPC also described the manhunt launched by the police for the Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Igboho, as misguided and provocative.

“The government must guarantee the life of Sunday Igboho. Rather than declare Sunday Adeyemo an outlaw, the federal government’s security agencies should turn their attention against criminal elements engaging in kidnappings and killings in the South,” the OPC deputy president said.

Similarly, according to Afolabi, the Presidency’s opposition to Akeredolu’s order was divisive, provocative and ill-advised, as well as an insult to the country’s federalism and the separation of powers principle of the constitution.

“In this federation, one level of government will be overstepping its bounds by dictating to another level of government. The evil of kidnapping and killing being perpetrated by Nigerian Fulani and their foreign cousins can no longer be tolerated. This kids-glove treatment was how authorities encouraged Boko Haram to transform into a full-blown terrorist organisation that has made the North-East the most dangerous place to live in the world,” Afolabi said.

“Therefore, in line with His Excellency’s directive as the Chief Security Officer of Ondo State, herdsmen, tourists and farmers alike must vacate forest reserves to enable security agents and vigilantes move in to smoke kidnappers out of their hiding places and restore sanity to the backwoods.”

Urging all Yoruba to speak with one voice against the rising insecurity in their land, OPC said the race currently faced an existential threat to its survival as foreign criminals had turned highways, forests and farms into danger zones while the Buhari government turned a blind eye.

“We cannot fold our arms and wait to be wiped out of our fatherland by foreign elements. The Yoruba are peace-loving people with a great reputation for extending hospitality to visitors in order to produce mutually-beneficial advantages. But what we see today are invaders, murderers and parasites committed to snuffing the life out of their hosts. We can no longer tolerate them and we must reclaim not only our land but our peace from these children of Satan,” he said.

According to OPC, the imbalance in the country’s security architecture had always raised suspicion, and the government’s apathy to the rising menace in the South showed that authorities felt nothing about the daily murder and plundering of Nigerians.

OPC said: “Time has come for all Nigerians, especially the National Assembly, to compel the president to alter the security architecture to conform to the Federal Character principle of the Nigerian Constitution he swore to uphold. What obtains now is lopsided in favour of a section of the country and this is dangerous.”

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