By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde.
Professor Banji Akintoye, leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, intensified his call for Yoruba separation from Nigeria.
He urged South West governors and monarchs to declare September 23 as Yoruba Unity Day, citing relentless Fulani attacks.
Akintoye alleged 29,000 Yoruba people have been killed and numerous women raped. “The only viable and sustainable answer to all this horrible situation is to separate our Yoruba nation from Nigeria, and to establish our own country where we shall be able to exercise our sovereignty to provide security for our land and people, and where we shall be able to run our economy decently in the way that we Yoruba know,” he said.
Fulani people, he claimed, are seizing land, killing, kidnapping, and destroying farms. Akintoye called on governors and traditional rulers to adopt Yoruba Unity Day as a public holiday.
He stated his self-determination struggle is intellectually sound and accepted by 80% of Yoruba people. On Amotekun, he said: “There was some hope when our Governors created Amotekun some years ago to resist the Fulani rampages, but Fulani people in control of the Federal Government have contrived the impotence of Amotekun. The Fulani terrorists are also becoming increasingly audacious in crimes and barbarism in our main cities.”
Akintoye noted Fulani terrorists’ growing audacity and threats against Nigeria’s President, including harassment, military overthrow, regional rebellion, and declaration of war.
Celebrations were held in Ile Ife and Ibadan. Akintoye urged Yoruba people to join the self-determination struggle, fearing Nigeria’s situation could destroy the Yoruba nation.
