Sunday Adeyemo, a Yoruba rights activist popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has accused Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, of not telling President Muhammadu Buhari the truth about the herdsmen crisis currently rocking the South-West region.
Igboho made the claim at a virtual town hall meeting With Yoruba In Diaspora on Wednesday.
The Ooni and President Buhari recently met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where they discussed ways to resolve the farmers-herders’ crisis in the South-West region, according to the first-class monarch.
The meeting occurred after Igboho issued a seven-day quit notice to herdsmen accused of sundry crimes in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State and enforced same.
Youths who were said to be executing the execution order of Igboho, who is the Akoni Oodua of Yoruba land, had on 22 January, reportedly attacked communities occupied by the Fulanis in Ibarapa killing three people and setting ablaze properties in the process, including the house of Salihu Abdukadir, the Seriki Fulani of Oyo.
After meeting the President, Oba Ogunwusi stated that although Igboho has done well to speak for the downtrodden, it was time he allowed the constituted authorities to handle the situation. The monarch warned the Yoruba nationalist not to take the law into his hands.
However, Igboho insisted that the traditional ruler failed to tell the president about the difficulties faced by the indigenes of the region in the hands of the Fulani herdsmen.
According to the Yoruba activist, some politicians were behind Ooni’s comments, claiming that the first-class monarch has disappointed the Yoruba nation.
He added that the monarchs of the region are afraid to speak truth to power and take firm decisions to resolve the crisis and called on indigenes to pray for their leaders.
He said: “The monarchs are now afraid but we must keep praying for them to be united with one voice. They should not be afraid of arrest at their age. Some of them don’t even grant audience at their palaces any longer. So, everything is now in God’s hands.
“When Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, Ooni should have told Buhari the truth but he did not. When Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. You can imagine that kind of talk?
“Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter. Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the President the whole truth and make the demands of the Yoruba people known to the President.”
Igboho disclosed that the Ooni has invited him to his palace for discussions but he said he would not honour the invitation.
“The Ooni disappointed himself. Some politicians are behind Ooni’s latest move. He invited me to his palace but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well but he did not. I won’t honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me.
“Enough is enough, the Fulani have done enough,” he added.
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