The Yoruba nation on Wednesday announced the creation of what it called the South West Security and Stakeholders Group to secure the territory.
SWSSG is an amalgam of Amotekun and all other existing security support systems and is to be led by the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams.
This development came to light during the one-day pan-Yoruba meeting held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on March 17, 2021.
The Wednesday meeting brought together leaders of thought in the region, including obas, chiefs, policy shapers, politicians, technocrats, security-related groups and socio-cultural groups, to deliberate on the issue of security.
The new platform is designed to bring together the various Yoruba sociocultural groups, members of groups like the Oodua People’s Congress Congress, Agbekoya, Soludero, hunters, vigilantes, members of traditional institutions, and other non-state actors.
This, it was explained, had become expedient to address the challenges the existing security agencies are facing in tackling security challenges in the region.
Speakers at the event decried the seeming helplessness of the central government in handling the nation’s security challenges, bemoaning the incessant cases of kidnapping, rape, killings, as well as destruction of farmlands and other means of livelihood.
In a communiqué read by the Secretary-General, Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr. Kunle Olajide, the meeting resolved that the Yoruba would not cede an inch of its forests to anyone, and warned governors in the South West states to be circumspect in implementing the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
Decrying the South West’s reliance on the North for food, the conference charged the zone’s governments to optimise its potential in agriculture.
Iba Adams in his speech urged traditional rulers of Yorubaland to take the threat to the region as a matter of grave concern.
He also spoke on the need for unity among various Yoruba sociocultural groups and among the Yoruba in general.
The host Governor, Seyi Makinde, speaking at the event said he is currently adopting the use of non-state actors like the OPC, Soludero and vigilantes for voluntary policing to complement efforts of regular security agencies in the state, and sought the cooperation of traditional rulers with the non-state actors and residents to tackle the security challenges facing the state.
Keynote Speaker, Prof. Soji Adejumo, urged governors of the region to be proactive and collaborate on achieving food security.
He urged the governors of the South West to increase their focus on agriculture to guarantee food security in the region and address the reliance on the North for food.
Adejumo also called for the resuscitation of cattle rearing areas established during the era of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as part of ways to address the incessant clashes associated with the rearing of cattle.
The Chairman, Congress Committee, Sola Lawal, expressed regret that the Yoruba nation had been ravaged by incessant case of kidnapping, rape, killing and destruction of farm lands and properties, noting that it was time the race regained its lost unity, cohesion and glory.
