Peoples Democratic Party governorship hopeful in Ondo State, Mr. Eyitayo Jagede (SAN), has described the killing of the daughter of Pa Reuben Fashoranti, leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group by suspected Fulani herdsmen as not only disheartening but also a sad reminder of the state of insecurity in the country.
Jegede, in a statement in Akure, the Ondo State capital, said he was miffed upon realising that despite cries by well-meaning Nigerians, indications continued to show that little or nothing was being done to stem the tide of banditry on the country’s highways.
The Afenifere leader’s 58-year-old daughter was killed on Friday along the Benin-Shagamu expressway by bandits suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, who attempted to kidnap her along with others.
Commenting on the tragedy, Jegede, who was PDP’s governorship candidate in the 2016 election in Ondo State, said, “I was taken aback to hear of the killing of Pa Reuben Fashoranti’s daughter by hoodlums suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, on the Benin-Shagamu expressway.
“This is not only disheartening but also a sad reminder of the state of insecurity in the country, about which many well-meaning Nigerians have shouted themselves hoax.
“This state of utter disappointment stems from the fact that despite cries by eminent citizens, especially from the South-West, and despite the concern shown by our party, the PDP, indications continue to show that little or nothing is being done to stem the tide of banditry on our highways..”
Jegede further lamented, saying “the killing of Fashorati’s daughter is an unkind cut to the nonagenarian at the twilight of his life.”
“For somebody who has contributed a lot to the unity, progress and development of not only the Yoruba race but Nigeria as a whole, to have lost his daughter in this kind of circumstance is really, really appalling, and can only be described as the shame of a nation,” he condemned.
Jegede, as such, renewed his appeal to the Federal Government to encourage community policing by allowing the evolution of a state policing system, which he said the PDP would have implemented, if it had been in power.
The governorship hopeful, in commiserating with the Fashorantis, the people of Ondo State, and the entire Yoruba race, prayed them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, and called on all to be vigilant and security conscious, under the circumstance.
