THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The umbrella organisation of all Yoruba groups in Germany has called for an end to what it describes as acts of terrorism in the south-western region of Nigeria.
In a communique entitled “Our Demand for An Immediate End to Terror Attack in Yorubaland” and issued after an emergency meeting of the Egbe Isokan Omo Yoruba Germany (EIOYG) recently, the organisation said:
“At the last National Council meeting of leaders and stakeholders of EIOYG, held on the 28th February 2021, the following resolutions concerning the current deplorable security situation in Yorubaland were adopted:
“We the Yoruba diaspora living in Germany, had long been watching and monitoring with great concern, the onslaught on lives, properties and existence of our families in the whole of Yorubaland. The onslaught continued unabated with more killings, raping, maiming and destruction of livelihood of our people, perpetuated by Fulani herdsmen and bandits.
1) We hereby decry and unequivocally condemn these acts in totality, it is an encroachment on the basic fundamental rights of our people in their homeland, we reject the incessant killings and evasion of our land by the Fulani herdsmen and bandits.
2) We charged all Governments from Federal to Local levels to wake up to their basic responsibility of protecting lives and properties of our people. Failure to do this or in the absence of this, it is a basic instinct for people to rise up and protect themselves against all forms of treats and aggressions.
3) We call on all Yoruba Governors, Politicians, Royal fathers, Chiefs and other leaders, as a matter of urgency, to put a pro-active measures in place to protect Yorubaland and its people. Perpetrators of this carnage and wanton killing of our people should be charged and prosecuted.
4) Yorubas are a peace loving people as rooted in our culture, notwithstanding we will no longer tolerate criminals or bandits in our land; for this reason government should desist from harassing, arresting, intimidating or subjecting any Yoruba individuals or groups associated with protection of lives and properties of our people.
“In conclusion, we the Yorubas in Germany stand firm in unison and reinstate our decision not to sit idle or look away, allowing the killings, raping, kidnapping and destruction of our people’s livelihood to continue. We remain active, vigilant and determined to do all things legally possible to protect the interest of Yorubaland and its people at all times.”
The press release, which was signed by Akin Famson (President) and Adebare Fasiu Kelani (General Secretary) of the organisation, is in reaction to the endemic security crisis in Nigeria.
Across the vast country, kidnapping by heavily armed bandits has become a common occurrence while the destruction of farmlands and attacks on farmers have made many rural dwellers to abandon their villages.
The pervasive insecurity has also led to increasing inter-ethnic tension, especially between the Fulani, whose pastoralists are held mainly responsible for the insecurity in the country, and other groups.
Many analysts have been calling on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to act decisively to protect lives and property in the country and avert the danger of a bigger crisis of armed inter-ethnic conflict.
More about the Egbe Isokan Omo Yoruba Germany (EIOYG) at http://www.isokanyoruba.com/
Sola Jolaoso
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