The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has warned Yoruba groups
including the Afenifere over comments credited to the latter over the
recent killings in Ile-Ife, Osun state.
A clash between the Hausa community and the indigenes of Ile-Ife on March
8, 2017 led to the death of some Nigerians, most of them reportedly from
the north.
The Nigeria police had waded into the crisis and arrested some people.
However, some Yoruba groups have kicked saying that only Yorubas were
arrested.
The leader of the AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, said the comments from the
Yoruba groups amounted to a gang-up to harass and intimidate the courts
and the police from investigating and punishing those found guilty so that
a repeat of the sad episode would be avoided.
“We take exception to those marauders who are hiding behind ethnic
umbrella and are desperately trying to pervert the course of justice.
“We are cautioning them to tread carefully so that their latest action
would not provoke reprisal attacks, because this is an important period in
the history of this nation, when all compatriots are working hard to
address the multiple challenges confronting the nation, economically,
politically and socially,” AYCF said.
The northern group reminded the Afenifere that the Hausas have displayed
maturity by not going after the millions of Yoruba citizens doing business
in their region.
“This is a demonstration of respect for the rule of law and not cowardice.
We are aware that no one has the monopoly of violence or creating hot-air
balloons in order to cover up an organized attack on people doing
legitimate business in any party of our country.
“We watched with dismay, how the Afenifere is beginning to fan the embers
of hatred against the victims and creating heroes out of the attackers.
This amounts to a subtle ethnic cleansing campaign and we wish to warn
Afenifere and its paymasters to shun such a dangerous act.
“It was unfortunate that a few loquacious Yoruba sons have joined the
bandwagon by shouting to the roof tops, in a calculated attempt to
dissuade the courts and law enforcement agencies from doing the needful.
“For the records, one-time vice presidential candidate in the 2007
elections, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has launched a negative campaign against
the Nigerian police for detecting and carrying out the arrest of prime
suspects in the clash. Other tribal champions include Femi Fani-Kayode;
and the Yoruba Youth Council (YYC), which bought airtime on Channels TV,
just to condemn the arrest of the suspects,” AYCF said.
AYCF added: “Let the Afenifere and their fellow collaborators in this
massive cover-up campaign bear in mind that we, the Northerners, are
watching and if we were not law-abiding, we would have followed the same
path of ethnic antagonism and defending the indefensible.
“We can only stress that this is a crucial moment in the history of this
nation and the most important thing is how to move forward in all spheres
by shunning acts capable of breeding large-scale violence in the North in
the name of reprisal attacks
“To make matters worse, it is in the news that Afenifere has hired eight
SANS who have. s is unacceptable and the Nigerian law knows no sacred
cows, whoever breaks the law must be made to face the consequences of his
deeds, no matter how highly placed. No amount of media propaganda should
be allowed to make the innocent people killed in Ile-Ife to look like
sacrificial lambs.
“We urge the Nigerian judiciary to let justice take its full course and
ignore the ranting of tribal jingoists, masquerading as champions of
ethnic cleansing agenda.
“It is now evident that Afenifere has openly endorsed the killings,
especially as they were all quiet when the killings were going on and
shamelessly came out after the arrests by security agents have been made.
Let this be last time anyone would be shielded for killing fellow citizens
in the name of ethnic or tribal agenda. We have had enough of this
rubbish.”