Herdsmen Attacks: Defend Yourself By Traditional Means

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Outrage on Wednesday trailed the abduction of 28 passengers on the Akure-Ado-Ekiti road on Tuesday about 6a.m within the Iju/Itaogbolu axis in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Daily Independent learnt from an anonymous source that the assailants took advantage of the bad portion of the road to commit the crime.

Sources also claimed that the passengers were travelling to Onitsha in Anambra State from Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, when they were abducted.

However, Festus Omoniyi, Secretary, Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Oyemekun branch, Akure/Ado unit, said only 10 persons were kidnapped.

He identified the driver of the vehicle as Felix Akinde, saying they were kidnapped at a spot known as NYSC junction.

Speaking to Daily Independent on the abduction of the 28 passengers, pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, said nothing could come out of the security summit by the governors because they attempted to downplay the security challenges in the South West.

Yinka Odumakin, the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, also advised Yoruba people to look for traditional means of protecting themselves, adding that relying on the Federal Government for adequate protection may prove costly.

Odumakin said: “The governors had a summit in Ibadan yesterday (Tuesday) where they attempted to play down what confronts South-West today. One of the governors that spoke for almost 32 minutes didn’t mention anything on insecurity in Yorubaland.

“And these are the governors that were saying Zamfara is the worst hit and that insecurity is a general problem. Twenty-four hours after the summit, we are seeing this happening.

“When they rose from their meeting, they issued their communiqué.

“There is nothing special about the communiqué and nothing can come out of it. The essence of the summit was not to address the problem but to just pretend that something is being done.

“But clearly, at this point now, the Yoruba people should know now that their fate lies with them.

“Like Afenifere said a week ago, the Yoruba should activate their traditional self-defence system now because, like Theophilus Danjuma said to this country a few weeks back, the people depending on official protection to defend them in this situation now, they will all die one by one.”