Chairman of the South West Governors Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tell Nigerians where he stands on the issue of worsening insecurity in the country.
Akeredolu specifically asked President Buhari to let Nigerians know that he does not support criminality.
He spoke in an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.
“What we expect from Mr. President is for him to come out and let Nigerians know that he does not support criminality. He once said that if you find anybody with arms without a licence, they should be arrested. Security agencies must be at work without rest. Everyone has said no to open grazing, the law should follow,” the governor submitted.
On the activities of Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho, Akeredolu said it is necessary to look at the circumstances surrounding his intervention in the herdsmen crisis.
He said: “I do not support people taking laws into their hands. I do not support illegality. Those circumstances might not be legal, but when you look at it, you’ll know we are a child of circumstance…
“Essentially in Ondo State, we discovered criminal herdsmen who were using our forest reserve to perpetrate crimes and we said, ‘look, we cannot stay by and watch things happen this way’.
“People were kidnapped. We’ve been debriefed by all of them, and we know people who took them. If you’re not licensed to be in the forest, then you’ll be taken to be doing illegal ventures; that’s where we stand.
“My duty does not include profiling those who come into the country; all I know is that those perpetrating these crimes speak a common language. Whether they are foreigners or from here, it is a matter of police to go after them and identify them.”
On Bauchi governor Bala Muhammed’s justification for herdsmen carrying arms, Akeredolu said he had not spoken like a statesman.
He said: “How can you say people should carry firearms (AK-47) when it is illegal?
“Bala Mohammed has only added more petrol to the fire. No governor should speak that way. So I should ask my people to carry guns? Statements like that must be condemned, and I condemn it.”