Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and Coalition of Yoruba self-determination groups, yesterday, warned the Federal Government against proscribing the Yoruba Nation agitation groups.
Umar Gwandu, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, had said the Federal Government would do whatever possible within the context of the law in accordance with extant provisions of the law to deal with agitations for self-determination.
BUT reacting, YCE, through its Secretary-General, Dr. Kunle Olajide, warned against such a step.
Olajide, who stated that the Yoruba Nation agitation groups had not been violent, said: “It is ill-informed to plan proscribing self-determination groups. It is a heavy load of mischief. They can’t take such a step.
There is freedom of association. This is a democratic country. What the agitation groups want is self-determination. The groups agitating for self-determination are not violent. They have not done anything wrong.
“If they have done something wrong, they can take them to court and lay before them charges that will amount to proscription. Anyone cannot just wake up and say self-determination groups would be proscribed.”
ALSO, the Secretary-General of Coalition of Yoruba Self-determination Groups, Dr. Steve Abioye, said if it happened, it would be a continuation of aggression of the Federal Government against secessionist effort.
“It will be a continuation of aggression of Federal Government against secessionist effort and elongation of the effort of the ruling Fulani-led Federal Government to cow the agitators.
“Miyetti Allah and other Fulani groups that have sent many to their early graves are there. To the Federal Government, they are not terrorist groups worth proscription but groups that are not violent are the ones to be proscribed,” he said.
SIMILARLY, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has cautioned the Federal Government against move to proscribe the ‘Afenifere’ and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as terrorist groups.
HURIWA, in a statement, yesterday, in Abuja by its National Co-ordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that on June 26, 2018, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), described the attacks on some communities in Plateau State as an act of retaliation over the killing of 300 cows belonging to its members.
The Guardian
