Funke Fasoranti: Why we’ve not declared war against herdsmen – Gani Adams

The Aare Ona Kankafo of Yoruba land, Gani Adams, has disclosed reasons he is incapacitated to led his men in an offensive against suspected Fulani herdsmen ravaging the south west in various forms of attacks.
Gani Adams, who by the virtue of his position is considered as the generalissimo of the Yoruba nation, however, disclosed that strategies were already being mapped out towards tackling the menace.

The Aare Ona Kankafo stated this on Thursday’s night during his visit to the Akure residence of National Leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio-political organization, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti over the murder of his daughter, Mrs. Funke Olakunri by gunmen suspected to the herdsmen last week Friday.

58-year-old Mrs Olakunrin was on her way to Lagos from Akure, the Ondo State capital where she had gone to visit her 93-year-old father when her assailants struck and shot her dead in the Land Cruiser SUV she was travelling in on the Benin-Sagamu highway.

According to Gani Adams, who maintained that while killings by herdsmen would no longer be condoned within Yoruba land, the approach would be tactical as he stressed that the herdsmen operations are in three phases.
“We can no longer allow our people to be killed like chickens. We can’t keep quite while Yorubas are being killed like fouls.

“It’s very important that we have to react to this issue but we will not over react. We are being cautious so that we won’t be setup. And the law is there that we have to operate within the ambit of the law. That is one of the reasons we are being careful.
“My own Aare Ona Kakanfo is a modern one. It is not that of the olden days where the Alaafin and some Yoruba Obas with the Oyo Mesi will declare war and you can go to war.
“We have the structure of security on ground, the entire security apparatus.
“We have to be careful not to go into their trap. We have to be careful. It is good you see me in circulation to walk with you. We don’t want a situation we walk into their trap because we realize that this ugly incident is being coordinated beyond our own scene. There are some forces behind them.
“How can ordinary Fulani herdsmen be holding AK 47? In our findings, one AK 47 rifle goes for about N1 million and with many bullets. So, we are looking beyond ordinary Fulani herdsmen.
“We realized that there are some forces behind them in three phases. Those who strike in the bush, those who issued statement to back them up and those who are strategists, who give instructions to those who strike and to those who issue statements.
“Our problem in Yoruba land is that we don’t prepare, we always react. When we tell our people to prepare, they employ nonchalant attitude to it.”

Gani Adams added that the collaboration of the state governors within the south west is germane towards confronting the situation.
He also stated that he has received assurances from security agencies of stepping up efforts at ensuring effective surveillance on the notorious spots that have been identified.
“We are having different meetings on different organizations and we are planning to have a synergy with our state government in the south west.
“Don’t forget, that the governors are the chief security officers of their states and in a sensitive security situation like this we have to be very careful not to jump the gun.
“But I can tell you authoritatively that we are meeting as a group and as stakeholders to map out strategies to complement efforts of the law enforcement agencies.
“I’ve been notified that the IGP has arranged a special squad to work on that dangerous spot of the south west due to the letter I wrote to the IGP four weeks ago.
“I have seen this signal, I have the information. Last year I wrote our governors and a summit on security was held three weeks ago, just within three hours we couldn’t conclude that summit they left that venue.
“Now we don’t have option, we have to work with them. They are the chief security officers of their states and anything that happens within their state is an embarrassment to them. Don’t forget that they are the ones collecting all the security votes. As the Aare Ona Kankafo I use my personal fund. We are talking about someone that is ready to sacrifice anything for his own race and not reading political meaning to all that is happening.”