Coordinator of the late Fredrick Fasehun faction of Oodua Peoples’ Congress in Osun State, Chief Adeleke Akintayo, says efforts to combat the menace of the Fulani herdsmen and bandits in the South-West can only be successful if the Yoruba people eschew division and come together as one in the crusade to rid the region of insecurity.
Akintayo warned that frequent cases of kidnapping and banditry linked to Fulani herdsmen in the region would reduce or end, only if the region speaks with one voice.
The OPC factional leader alleged that some people within the region might have been bought over by those who wanted to ensure criminal elements among Fulani were not evicted from the region.
The OPC leader said those working with external forces interested in the continuation of the insecurity in the South-West should be identified and dealt with in a traditional way.
According to him, “We commend our governors in the South-West states for their unity to ensure peace in the land.
“But there are people within Yoruba race that are collaborators with forces outside the region. Those collaborators are the ones making utterances that are fuelling division.
“They are working to ensure that those Fulani linked to criminal activities are not expelled from Yorubaland. They should be identified and dealt with in our traditional way.”
The OPC leader then declared the readiness of his group to assist the government in tackling insecurity in any part of Osun by providing intelligence that would prevent crime.