The Yoruba for Democratic Values (YDV), has expressed concern over the worsening security situation across Yorubaland, urging political leaders, traditional rulers, socio-cultural organisations, and citizens to unite against what it described as a growing wave of insecurity threatening the region.
In a statement, on Thursday, by its spokesman, Debo Adeniran, the group expressed concern over increasing cases of kidnapping, violent attacks and criminal infiltration in parts of the South-West and other Yoruba-speaking communities.
According to it, “Recent developments across the Southwest should concern every Yoruba son and daughter irrespective of political affiliation, religious leaning, social status, or ideological persuasion.”
YDV noted that reports of kidnappings and violent criminal activities in Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara states, as well as Yoruba-speaking areas of Kogi State, showed that insecurity had “increasingly crept into the heart of Yorubaland.
“Recent incidents include school-related abductions and attacks in parts of Oyo State, kidnapping incidents and arrests linked to criminal networks in Ekiti and Ondo State, as well as attempted abductions and violent operations in Ogun State.”
It stressed that the worsening security situation required collective action rather than political divisions.
Rights Group Demands Accountability in Safe Schools Initiative
The Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), has called on the federal government to provide a comprehensive public account of the Safe Schools Initiative, questioning what has been achieved more than a decade after the programme was launched to protect schools and students from attacks and abductions.
The call was contained in a statement by Mrs. Funmi Falana, SAN, Chairperson of WELA, in which the organisation expressed concern over the continuing attacks on schools and recurring abductions of schoolchildren across the country despite substantial public investments aimed at improving school security.
WELA said recent incidents involving the kidnapping of students had once again drawn attention to the vulnerability of educational institutions and the fears faced by many Nigerian parents who send their children to school uncertain whether they will return home safely.
According to the organisation, the continued attacks demonstrate that schools, which should be safe spaces for learning, remain vulnerable to criminal violence, while families and communities continue to suffer trauma and anxiety.
The group recalled that following the abduction of more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, the federal government, in collaboration with private sector stakeholders and international development partners, launched the Safe Schools Initiative to strengthen school security and ensure uninterrupted access to education, particularly for girls.
Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Adedayo Akinwale, Hammed Shittu, Wale Igbintade, Sunday Ehigiator and Felix Omoh-Asun
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