The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has called on the federal government to intensify efforts to apprehend perpetrators of killings in Kwara communities and bring them to justice.
Oba Owoade also called on Nigerians to stand together against those he called blood guzzlers and enemies of state who take pleasure in mindless killing of innocent souls.
The Alaafin maintained that smoking out the criminal elements would reinforce collective will to completely snatch the country and its destiny from the jaws of insanity and barbarism, “just as socio-cultural orientations that uphold the sanctity of life and the intrinsic dignity in the human person must never be surrendered to the ungodly.”
Alaafin Owoade made the call following recent killings of some people of Yoruba extraction by suspected Fulani herdsmen at Oke Ode in Kwara State.
A statement on Thursday by the media aide to the monarch, Bode Durojaye, stressed that Oba Owoade had contacted Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State over the ugly development in the State.
According to Durojaye, the governor assured the Paramount Ruler that troops had been deployed to the affected community to restore peace and ensure safety of residents.
“Government, political leaders and followers, and all of us, must have the courage and honesty to get to the root causes of our current state of insecurity, underpinned by criminality, insurgency and of recent, terrorism by herdsmen.
“Our leaders and followers should not take the issue of security for granted, but to ensure urgent and immediate steps are taken to consciously respond to current threats by architectonic designing and building a security system which would create a stable and relatively peaceful environment, conducive for national development.
“We must accept the reality that while it is necessary to create unity in diversity, we must identify and respect our differences, which is diversity in unity”.
While commending security agencies for their steadfastness and commitment, the Alaafin also warned against acts that are detrimental to peace, orderliness and unity of the country.
