OYO: Afenifere, Fani-Kayode others slam Lawan for attacking S’West govs over Sasa mayhem

DELUGE of reactions has continued to trail the comments of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, in his intervention on the recent mayhem that took place at Sasa market which eventually degenerated to ethnic clashes between the Hausa and Fulani communities in Akinleye Local Government Area of the state.      ‌

Lawan, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service yesterday, had claimed that ‘unguarded statements’ by some governors in the South-West incited people in the area to take up arms against fellow citizens.

He also blamed what he called the failure of governments in the region for the crisis which led to property destruction in the area.

Lawan stated, “What happened in Oyo State and other things that kept happening in the South-western states are caused by leadership failures in the region. Some utterances by some governors also went a long way in inciting the citizens to take up arms against other ethnic groups settling in their states. The governors’ utterances emboldened the criminals to unleash violence against the northerners.”

But eminent Nigerians of Yoruba extraction have expressed their displeasure over the Senate President’s position on the crisis.

Elder statesman, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere and the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, have berated Lawan for being biased in his assessment of the situation by indicting South-West governors  for the mayhem.

Also speaking on the efforts made so far by the National Assembly concerning the insecurity rocking the country, particularly the farmer/herder clashes in the Southwest, Lawan said the  incident happened while the National Assembly was on recess, he noted that it was one of the first issues deliberated upon when the assembly resumed legislative activities.

He  said, “Sasa killing was one of the things we deliberated upon at the plenary when we resumed. We condemned the violence and even moved against any kind of inciting comments or utterances by some government officials. We equally condemned the eviction order by one ethnic group on the other, or indigene-settle claims, just as we called for the compensation of all the victims of herder/farmer clashes in the country.’’

“Withdraw your provocative statement” –Afenifere

Reacting to Lawan’s comments in an interview with Punch, Adebanjo asked the Senate President to withdraw his provocative statement against governors in the South-West.

Adebanjo said, “It is an insult brought to us by those who aligned with the All Progressives Congress to force the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on us as a nation. It is a tragedy that someone called the President of the Senate could make such a statement about South-West governors.  In fact, it is Lawan that just made an unguarded statement.

“He has failed in his duty. He never had anything to say about the killings of farmers, raping of our women and massive destruction of our farmlands by killer Fulani herdsmen.

“His language is unguarded. I am sure that his language is that of President Muhammadu Buhari himself who has refused to caution the herdsmen. When someone is part of a government that negotiates with bandits and criminals, what do you expect? It is people like Lawan who are behind the herdsmen and even own the cows. The statement by the President of the Senate is insulting, derogatory, shows lack of manners and a sign of improper training. It is condemnable and should be withdrawn.

“Are the governors in charge of security in their states or the one controlling the police? They have to resort to Abuja before the commissioner of police will even pick their calls. The Federal Government has refused to even allow Amotekun to bear arms but unconcerned when herdsmen carry sophisticated arms such as AK-47 and others.”

Also, speaking in a similar vein the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, described Lawan’s statement as ‘highly condemnable,’ asking him to withdraw it forthwith.

He said, “His comments are untrue. The information available to us indicated that the incident was caused by provocation. A Hausa porter beat a Yoruba pregnant woman.  Talking about leadership failure, is leadership failure responsible for banditry in the North-West, North-Central or in the North-East where there’s insurgency? Then, it’s leadership failure that is responsible for the insecurity in the country?”

Adams also expressed worry that such a statement was uttered by the president of the country’s upper legislative chamber.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo added, “As a Senate President, he ought to detach himself from nepotism and appear like a statesman and not a sectional leader. The statement from him is highly condemnable and I will advise him to retract it. He will be bias if he’s asked to say anything concerning the Yoruba.’’

Also Afenifere said ‘unwarranted provocations’ against the South-West were becoming too many.

Speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, the group said, “So it’s not the unguarded statements of Buhari’s henchmen? It’s the leadership failure in Nigeria that is keeping people like him in office.’’

Lawan in the interview with the BBC demanded the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the Sasa mayhem.

He added, “Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari also invited the state governors and told them that the Federal Government would not condone any governor calling for the eviction of any ethnic group from his state. He said that no governor should incite his citizens to unleash terror or violence on the non-indigene members of the communities.”

On February 12, 2021, a disagreement between a Hausa porter and Yoruba female trader in Sasa market, Ibadan, degenerated into crisis and claimed lives including multimillion naira investments.

A Yoruba cobbler, Shakirudeen Adeola, reportedly challenged the porter for beating the woman and in a fit of rage, the porter was said to have brought out a knife  and stabbed Adeola who was rushed to a hospital and died thereafter.

 The news of Adeola’s death sparked off violence which shattered the peace in the area.

Critic and former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has also attacked Senate President, Ahmad Lawan for blaming Southwest governors for the Shasha mayhem.

But Fani-Kayode reacting to Lawan, Fani-Kayode said his  assertion was completely false and bias, saying if not the actions of Southwest governors in quelling the crisis, it would have been worse than what happened.

“This is not true. And frankly I am beginning to suspect that there is a well-orchestrated script unfolding here.

I was in Ibadan when the Shasha killings started and I went on tour of the affected area. Let me assure you that many people were killed on both sides of the ethnic divide and had it not been for the efforts of the Governor of Oyo State and the tacit support and encouragement he got from the other SW Governors in terms of appealing to the people of Ibadan to show restraint, what happened in Oyo would have been a hundred times worse and far many more northerners would have been killed.

“The level of hate and resentment against Fulani herdsmen in the SW is frightful and unprecedented today and the Governors are having a hard time trying to calm people down and reign them in even though they may not want to admit it publicly. The decisive actions of the SW Governors over the last few months actually saved lives and their words and utterances actually reflected the will of the people.

“If, for example, Governor Akeredolu had not banned herdsmen from the forests of Ondo, after some time the local population would have gone there themselves to throw them out violently,” he said.

According to Fani-Kayode, the truth is that all the Southwest states are sitting on a keg of gunpowder over this herdsmen issue and that the local population were mobilising against them in a very frightening way.

He said Northern leaders should thank the Southwest governors for keeping a lid on the whole thing and restraining their people rather than blame them for trying to keep the peace in the face of the most extreme provocation from the terrorists.

“Quite apart from that, I need to ask this question. Why does the Senate President not complain about the violence that northerners are inflicting on Middle Belters and Southerners in the North itself? Again why does he not complain about the barbaric attacks and killing of our people in the SW and other parts of the South and Middle Belt by killer Fulani herdsmen who are carrying arms, raping our women, occupying our land and terrorising out people?

“How come he does not complain about that? Is Northern blood more precious than Southern blood? It appears that he is only concerned about retaliatory attacks by the local Yoruba population who have been brutalised and traumatised by the terrorists.

“He has not complained about what those terrorists are doing to our people and he has exhibited no empathy with the victims simply because they are Southerners. Is this right or fair?

“It is wrong for anyone to target other ethnic groups in their region and I totally condemn that but the north needs to understand that the people of the SW particularly believe they have been encircled and that they are under siege,” he said.

Fani-Kayode added that the only way the resentment against northerners would vanish in that zone was when the killer herdsmen and terrorists stopped the killings.

He said outside of that, all the self-serving and sanctimonious admonitions and lectures in the world from Northern leaders, who were clearly partial in this matter, to leaders in the Southwest would change nothing.

“If we want peace let us be honest & let us join hands, stand shoulder to shoulder and fight against the killers together. Blaming SW Governors & leaders for the failures of the Fed. Govt. to provide law & order & protect our people from terrorists & savages will not help in this matter. As a matter of fact it will only make things worse,” he stated.