•urges them not to ignore Makinde’s alarm
Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has called on governors in the six south-west states to be vigilant and put in place proper structures to secure the region.
The Yoruba generalissimo made the call on Tuesday, following the alarm raised by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on the influx of bandits fleeing the military operations in the North-West, said that the alarm raised by the Oyo governor was a wake-up call, real and needed urgent attention.
It would be recalled that Makinde raised the alarm on Monday during the 2025 annual inter-faith service in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Iba Adams, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant (SA) on Media, Mr. Kehinde Aderemi, copy of which was made available to newsmen, urged the South-West governors not to ignore the alarm raised by Governor Makinde, insisting that insecurity had been a major issue in the country, with the region becoming a new target for bandits and kidnappers.
This was just as the Yoruba generalissimo quickly recalled that he had raised similar alarm in the past, requesting that the governors in the South West region allow him to work with the state’s security architectures in order to get rid of bandits and kidnappers across the region.
“The alarm raised by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State was a wake-up call for all the governors in the South West. I raised a similar alarm last year and nothing was done. It is sad that up to the present time, nothing has really changed, except that insecurity is increasing by the day.
“South-West Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG), including the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Agbekoya Society, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Professional Hunters, Vigilante Jahun, Agbekoya Peace Movement, Agbekoya Solidarity Movement, COMSAIC, Isokan Ile Oodua, Egbe Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, Omo Oduduwa United and a few others under my leadership have been doing their very best in ensuring that the South-West region is safe.
“But now that Governor Makinde had raised the alarm, there is a need for an urgent approach in order to address the situation before it gets out of hand,” Adams said.
“Oyo State is the political capital of the South-West region and anything that happens in the state, no doubt, has a direct effect on the entire region.
“So, I urge all the governors in the South-West to be vigilant and do the needful by addressing the security situation in their respective states before it is too late,” he added.
Iba Adams, while restating the need for regional autonomy and State Police, however, vowed that the SSSG under his leadership would not allow bandits and kidnappers to turn the South-West region to their footholds.
“We will resist any attempt to turn Yoruba land into bandits and kidnappers’ foothold,” the Yoruba generalissimo vowed.
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