The Eselu of Iselu Kingdom, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi has described the excesses of some bad Fulani herdsmen in the Southwest as indirect slavery, and that the Yoruba nation will not sit down and allow things to degenerate further.
Oba Akinyemi who disclosed this in a BBC interview said a situation where children could no longer go to school, or farmers to their various farmlands because of attacks from Fulani herdsmen is indirect slavery, and can no longer be tolerated.
“If we do not go to the North and abuse the law of the land or turn ourselves to nuisance, then we don’t expect them to come here and take us for granted in our lands. That is the way we see it. Because if you cannot go to school or to the farms and the crops being destroyed, and you can’t even talk, because if you talk, the fear of persecution is there. So, already you are looking at yourself as a slave in your own land. This is never done anywhere.”
“We don’t have problems with the peaceful Fulani, afterall Ibos are here, and Hausa are also here, why is everybody not talking about the Hausas? But the bad ones among the Fulani here are becoming a threat to our land.”
He also expressed his support to Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho on his fight against the bad elements within the Fulani herdsmen.
Sunday Igboho coming here is for liberation. He told me that if the government has done the necessary things, there will be no point for him going around to drive the Fulani away. And I want to call the IGP to please as a matter of urgency take over the full responsibility of maintaining law and order.
“So for me, I stand for liberation and I stand for Sunday Igboho. I stand with him. I stand with Gani Adams, I stand with Femi Falana and I stand by the good people of Yoruba land who wants liberation for our lands and who don’t want any non-indigene to come and make nonsense of the lands.
“And I want to caution some traditional rulers, no matter how highly placed they are to be careful because our ancestors are watching. Don’t let us sell ourselves because of oil blocs or whatever they are sharing and give our people out as slaves.”