State police, traditional means, way out of insecurity in South West — Yoruba monarchs

Traditional rulers in the South-West, yesterday, converged on Ile-Ife, in Osun State, to address the insecurity challenges bedevilling the region.

While noting that attacks on Yoruba traditional rulers and eminent sons of the race were systematically organised, it also stressed that the attacks by herdsmen portend expansionist tendencies to overrun Yorubaland.

Traditional rulers from Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo states, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Ogunoye III; Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo; the Deji of Akure, Aladetoyinbo Adedelusi; Owa Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole; Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Olowu of Owu, Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oludo of Ido-Osun, Aragbiji of Iragbiji and a host of others.

Some of the traditional rulers, who spoke at the summit, reechoed the need to finalise issues around the creation of State Police for effective policing of the region.

They urged the Federal Government not to go back on its move to allow state police to become operational.

The monarchs insisted that the security of their subjects remains paramount.

In his keynote address, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams stressed the need for cooperation from South-West monarchs in tackling insecurity in the region.

Adams said: “This summit is a welcome development, I implore Yoruba traditional rulers to put pressure on the state governors in the region to engage local security groups to succeed in the fight against intruders in forest across Yorubaland.

“We must also collectively make case for true federalism where proper federal structure with adequate security measures would be put in place to allow for effective and adequate policing of the region.”

The summit, in a communique by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Adewale Ajayi and four other monarchs on behalf of others, observed that the attacks by herdsmen are responsible for food insecurity and scarcity in the southwest as farmers are afraid of going their farmlands due to organized attacks.

The communique reads: “That the Yoruba, especially the traditional rulers should make recourse to their natural resources including natural powers to combat banditry and kidnapping; that Yoruba Obas should not jettison traditional values.

“That government at all levels should recognize the roles of traditional rulers and factor them into the national security architecture.

“That the entire Obas in Yorubaland should work in unison to ward off the evils of banditry and kidnappings as each of the states could only succeed in chasing the marauders to another state.

“That any Oba, who is disinterested in Yoruba culture and custom, should abdicate his throne, for anyone who is deeply versed and interested in Yoruba traditions.

“That each time an attack took place, the offenders were quickly left off the hook by the powers that be and that the judicial process should be strengthened to mete out appropriate punishments to culprits or bring them to justice.”