Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has warned that the Federal Government will not tolerate acts inimical to peace in any part of the country, especially in Ondo and Oyo states.
Aregbesola said this in a statement shared on his social media and sent to newsmen by the ministry’s Director (Press & Public Relations), Mohammed Manga, on Tuesday.
In the statement titled, ‘A time to put unity and peace above all’, the minister said that the Ondo and Oyo situations were traumatic.
Recall that Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Ighoho, and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had issued quit notice to criminal herdsmen in the two states.
While Igboho asked the herdsmen to leave Igangan area of Ibarapa Local Government in Oyo, Akeredolu asked unregistered herdsmen to vacate Ondo forest reserves.
Igboho had stormed Igangan with his supporters after the expiration of his quit notice, a situation that caused tension in the area and made the Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Adamu, reportedly ordered his arrest.
Reacting to the development in the statement, Aregbesola said, “In light of the simmering tension in Ondo and (northern regions of) Oyo states, the Federal Government implores all citizens in the country to exercise restraint and pursue active efforts on how to use the tools of constructive dialogue, good neighbourliness and the primacy of peace-building as ways of dousing anger and resentment that can only lead to anarchy.
“The regrettable incidences of heightening ethnic and religious tension in our country are, in part, outcomes of political and economic strains that have persistently defined our land and continue to exacerbate security challenges, making the task of development more traumatic.
“There will be no tolerance for any act or behaviour capable of jeopardising law and order and security of lives and property in any part of Nigeria.
“Therefore, as the government is fashioning long term answers to address these problems, it urges citizens to appreciate that self-help and lawlessness cannot offer a path to a sustainable solution. It can only lead to greater pain as well as costly human and material losses and disruption of the already difficult task of devising responses that will produce tangible peace and development in the country.”