National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations, NACOMYO has called on Oyo State Government to compensate victims and families of the lost ones in the recent mayhem in Igangan and other parts of Ibarapaland.
This is contained in a statement in Ibadan by Coordinator, NACOMYO, Oyo State Chapter, Alhaji Dawood Afolabi.
Alhaji Afolabi, who conveyed sympathies of the organization to the families of the victims, said the compensation should not be delayed as it would aid in rebuilding the areas.
He also enjoined the State Government to ensure that perpetrators of the killings and destruction of property in the affected areas were brought to quick justice.
Alhaji Afolabi noted that the seeming slow response of the State Government to address the spate of killings, kidnapping, rape and forceful invasion of farmlands in the areas was responsible for the civil unrest in Ibarapaland.
“This is because nature abhors vacuum, especially in emergency situation like insecurity in which survival strategies cannot be limited to those approved by law but rather those perceived as effective to guarantee people’s safety. This perhaps accounted for resorting to self help or seeking the help of ethnic militia and opportunists as activists’.
The NACOMYO coordinator wondered why the state governor failed to visit the hot spots and commiserate with the people as such would have doused the tension abinitio.
” Since the time when it became an everyday affair for people to be in bondage as a result of money minded criminals in Ibarapa , the Governor never paid a visit to commiserate with the victims. We also wonder what the Amotekun corps were doing and the village vigilantes under the Baales and village heads. What is absolutely clear is that there could not be any external insurrection without the collusion of internal traitors”.
Alhaji Afolabi strongly condemned attempts to ascribe the crimes in the areas to a particular ethnic group, as criminality has no religious or ethnic boundaries.
“For those who are bent on the secession of the Yoruba tribe from Nigeria and also criminalizing or demonizing a particular tribe as they think it’s the quickest way to achieve their obnoxious and irresponsible ambition. They lack sense of history. Those who saw hell during the Biafran war will not pray for a civil war”.
He also lauded the replacement of the service chiefs which is long overdue hoping that there will be a positive change in the security architecture of the nation.
Alhaji Afolabi reminded states and local governments as well as other tiers of government benefitting from the distribution of national treasury to take security of lives and property as a top priority.
“They should know that the primary responsibility of any government is security as there cannot be any investment in an unsafe environment”.
Ridwan Fasasi
