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Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said that the attack and killing of innocent people in Igangan were a confirmation that Nigeria has become a killing field and sliding to a failed state which reinforced its call for immediate restructuring.
The organisation made its position known in a statement by its acting leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, on Sunday.
In the statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere regretted that the incident could still happen in spite of the alarm raised by the chairman of Oyo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun, Gen. Ajibola Togun (rtd), that foreign Fulani herders have surrounded South West waiting to wreak havoc.
“If there had been doubts that Nigeria is literally a battlefield and a country that is fast becoming a failed state, the unwarranted, unprovoked, dastardly and avoidable killings and arson that took place in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government of Oyo State at the weekend should remove the doubts,”it said.
According to Afenifere, a more serious government would have, from the moment the security alarm was blown by the former Director of Military Intelligence, Togun, swung into action to ensure that such a gory incident did not happen anywhere.
“The failure of the Federal Government-controlled security apparatuses to prevent the carnage from happening, despite prior warning, makes it difficult for us to dismiss the insinuations in some quarters of complicity from the high level of government. This suspicion is strengthened by the fact that the devilish bandits operated for four solid hours without being checked by either the police or the military. It is so sad.
“Security reports indicated that a column of the armed bandits were spotted in Iwere-Ile, Iwajowa Local Government area in Oke ogun, Oyo State. But they were repelled by the combined team of Amotekun and Vigilante officers in conjunction with the local people. Suspicion was rife that it was those bandits and/or their partners-in-crime that attacked Igangan,” the statement said.
Afenifere called on the federal and state governments to urgently put an end to the deteriorating situation in the country “before the people resort to self-help.”
It added that while security agencies should quickly swing into action, the Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, convoke meetings of security experts and make it possible for local communities to protect themselves.
“To find a lasting solution to the myriad of problems confronting the nation however, Nigeria must be restructured immediately,”Afenifere emphasised.