AYO ESAN
CHIEFTAIN of the Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has insisted that the criminals among the Fulani herdsmen are enjoying the support of the Presidency and the Northern governors.
He said in an exclusive chat with THE POINT on Monday that this showed that Nigeria was under what he called Fulani dictatorship.
He however said that the Yoruba people were not against the Fulanis but that the people of the region would not tolerate the criminals among them.
Adebanjo said there was the need to curb the criminal activities of the Fulani herdsmen who had been terrorising the South West.
“We cannot continue watching them killing our people and raping our women. That can’t just continue. We will resist that,” he said.
“Those that kidnapped students in Niger and Zamfara, are they Yoruba people? They are Fulanis. But when we say they are Fulanis, they would say we are doing ethnic profiling, we are profiling criminals,” he added.
Adebanjo noted, “You can see the way the presidency and some Northern Governors are protecting the Fulani herdsmen. They don’t talk about their actions, the criminal activities they are committing. They are trying to change the narratives, they are saying anybody can stay and live anywhere. We are under Fulani dictatorship and nobody is free.
“We are not against the Fulanis, we are against the criminal elements among them. The wealthiest man in Nigeria, if not in Africa, Aliko Dangote, is he not a Fulani? He is having his business here in the South West, nobody fights him. He is even building refinery in Lagos, have they asked him to go?
“When we were saying that Buhari wanted to Fulanise Nigeria, some people were calling us names. See Sheikh Gumi, he is trying to polarise the military by referring to some of them as Christian soldiers.”
On the way out of the present insecurity and other problems bedeviling the nation, Adebanjo said there was no other solution than restructuring.
“The county is on the precipice, we must restructure now. That is the solution, no other solution. The situation we are now, where a section is dominating others, cannot continue. And there is a limit to human endurance. We need to restructure immediately, otherwise we are deceiving ourselves,” the Afenifere chieftain said.
On the visit of Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, to his residence last Friday, Adebanjo said, “Yes, the young man was here. You know we need to tell him some things. We need to counsel him. It is not that we don’t understand his feelings, but he needs to be guided.”
“And on his way here, he was harassed by security men. They can harass Igboho but they can’t arrest bandits. That is the situation we found ourselves in this country. We are negotiating with criminals and we are paying them money,” he said.
