One wonders what the ragtag army of Yoruba Nation Agitators, sought to achieve with their invasion of Oyo State Government Secretariat, last Saturday. According to the Nigerian police report, the police “successfully thwarted an attempt by hoodlums suspected to members of the ‘Yoruba Nation Agitation Group’, driven by a separatist agenda in attempt to forcefully take over the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi-Ibadan.” While speaking to the press, the police accused the misguided young men of treasonable felony.READ FULL ARTICLE>>>>
Section 41 of the Criminal Code provides:
Any person who forms an intention to effect any of the following purposes, that is to say – (a) to remove during his term of office otherwise than by constitutional means the President as Head of State of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces thereof, or
(b) to likewise remove during his term of office the Governor of a State, or
(c) to levy war against Nigeria in order by force or constraint to compel President to change his measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon, or in order to intimidate or overawe any House of the National Assembly or any other Legislature or legislative authority; or
(d) to instigate any foreigner to make any armed invasion of Nigeria or of any of the territories thereof; and manifests such intention by an overt act, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life (emphasis mine).
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In their reaction, the Nigerian Army reported that “upon encountering own troops, the Yoruba nation adherents engaged the troops in a shootout. Troops, utilizing superior firepower, successfully subdued the attackers, who subsequently retreated in disarray.” The X (formerly twitter) message went on: “as a result of this engagement, nine members of the irredentist group were apprehended while one Semi-Automatic Pump Action rifle and ammunition were recovered.” The army went on to assure the public that measures have been taken to bring the situation under control.
The Oyo state police command subsequently reported the items seized from the 20 suspects arrested following the incident. They include “three Pump Action guns, 291 life cartridges, two expended cartridges, 67 cutlasses and five bulletproof vests.” Other items recovered include “six pairs of boots, 10 megaphones (public address system), three Oodua Nation Army camouflage uniforms, one unregistered Nissan Urban Caravan Bus and three TVS Motorcycles.” Unless there are more surprises, could these be the war chest with which the agitators sought to overawe the federal military power, to establish the “interim government for the Yoruba Nation”?
According to this paper on Sunday, Professor Banji Akintoye who washed his hands and that of Chief Sunday Igboho off the “treasonable felony” offence, said the information available to him is that the agitators had appointed “interim government for the Yoruba Nation.” He however properly situated it, when he said “I learnt they are engaged in some sort of insanity in Ibadan.” He reiterated that “we are the people fighting for Yoruba nation freedom and we will win the war peacefully and in an orderly manner.”
But for the hunger pangs and the heat pains, which are real, Nigeria, sometimes portrays as a comedy of illusions. It will be interesting, if one could pry into the minds of the starry-eyed young men, who were involved in the invasion of the secretariat, to understand their mental acumen. How did they conceive in their minds, or get convinced by another person that with their motley crowd, and scanty arms and charms, they could overawe the government houses across the six states that make up the southwest?
Perhaps, they hopped to charm the Yorubas, as their modern day saviors? Or in their delusions, they hoped that the people will rise and join their bouts of insanity, apologies to Professor Akintoye? If they were recruited by a woman from a prominent family in Lagos, as Prof suggested, what could she have promised them, that such outlawry would achieve? Prof described them as a lunatic fringe, vowing that those of them in their type of struggle would not engage in such a manner.
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The days ahead will determine what happens to the alleged lunatic fringe. Would the state move against them and charge them with the high crime of treasonable felony, or with minor offences from which they could get out few months down the line? Regardless of what they are charged with, it is worrisome that these young men have been trained to handle weapons, which shows that theirs was a premeditated action. And the fact that they had flags and uniform, suggest that there may be other persons of like mind, perhaps working with them.
So, while charging them to court may be the easiest thing to do, the southwest states must brace up for more challenges, if they have other members embedded within the public space. Also important, is to find out what motivates them, and why they decided to engage in the high risk of taking up arms against the state. There actions can not be wished away as violent reaction to the economic difficulties assailing Nigerians. Unless of course, the ragtag team are deluded that they could easily take over the government and be in charge of governance.
Across the Niger, under the banner of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a lot of young men suffer similar delusion; that with a ragtag army they can overawe the government and take over power. While the armed wing of the IPOB are far from their motive, the devastating impact of their sundry activities have left the states in the southeast gasping for economic breath. What initially stated as a joke sooner than later turned to a monster, as their strange decrees soon became diktats, obeyed by the people.
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Hopefully, the southwest states will learn from what happened in the southeast, and take necessary measures to end the mutating danger, if it is not already too late. While localizing the challenge to the southwest, the federal government should worry that the number of non-state actors, with access to arms and ammunition, and with intent to cause havoc in the nation, is increasing. Virtually all the other zones are already inundated with security challenges, with southwest until now, considered relatively peaceful.
Hopefully, the national economy would rebound, on the wings of strengthening naira, and stanch the descent into anarchy, as portrayed by the Yoruba Nation Agitators, last week in Ibadan. While economic hardship is not an excuse for criminality, there is no doubt that unemployment and hopelessness associated with it, increases the vulnerability of the youths to crime. It is hoped that the federal, state and local governments would make hay while the sun shines.READ FULL ARTICLE>>>>
