A group of South—West leaders comprising of Afenifere, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and other Yoruba groups, have questioned Buhari's commitment to addressing tensions in the country, warning that failure to act now, could spell doom for the country.
The Southwest groups which met on Friday under the aegis of Southwest Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG), said the failure of the president to proffer solution to the nation's security problems, is an indirect endorsement of self-defense.
Speaking at the meeting, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, the convener, urged stakeholders in the Southwest to collaborate to tackle security challenges in the region.
Adams said insecurity was a matter of life and death, adding that all hands must be on deck to strategically address the nationwide tension.
In a communiqué, the organisations expressed concern about violence in different parts of the country.
“The Defence Minister’s advice to Nigerians to defend themselves was clearly official endorsement of self-defence”, it read.
“We are worried that the situation, if not addressed, signals a grievous national crisis. We call on the government to quickly arrest the apparent descent into anarchy.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should prove his innocence in the carnage being perpetrated by herders by not only unambiguously condemning the nefarious acts but also take clear steps to exterminate it.”
In his own speech at the meeting, the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said the meeting had the endorsement of Reuben Fasoranti, Ayo Adebanjo and other Yoruba leaders.
He added that the Yoruba nation would not fold its arms and allow the killer herdsmen to send prominent sons and daughters to early graves.
Odumakin faulted the current political structure, noting that a multinational setting like Nigeria must be built on respect for different human components.