TheCable

The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Niger Delta militants for the cessation of attacks on communities in the south-west.

In the last two months, suspected militants have operated unchecked in coastal communities in Lagos and Ogun states.

Many have been kidnapped and killed in Ikorodu and in parts of Ogun state, but the abduction of a monarch in Lagos drew more attention to the activities of the violent groups.

Reacting to the worrisome development, Dare Adesope, an OPC leader, said the “incursion of Ijaw militants into Yoruba land” stands condemned.

Adesope, who expressed disappointment over the inability of government to contain the situation, warned that once the ultimatum elapses, it will be “an eye for an eye”.

“Enough of these invasions, killings and kidnapping of our people right on our own soil,”he said in a statement.

“We of the Oodua Peoples Congress (reformed) have waited for this long, hoping that the government would curb the deadly acts of the Ijaw people on our kinsmen in their fatherland in Ogun and Lagos states.

“But it has now dawned on us that the lives and properties of our people and, indeed, the masses are of no importance to those in authorities and the marauding militants.

“It is a known fact that we, the Yoruba, are the most contented, accommodating and tolerant among all the ethnic groups in Nigeria. We wholeheartedly welcome other tribes coming into our states either to reside or do business.

“But if they want to take our hospitality for stupidity, we are ready to prove to them that the gentility of a tiger is not an act of cowardice. Before now, it was the Fulani herdsmen, now it is the Ijaw people that are on the prowl. Enough is enough!

“Consequently, we are giving the Ijaw militants a 14-day ultimatum to allow peace to reign in our land. If they fail to heed the warning, it will henceforth be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

“We will prove to them that Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and not a no man’s land that they tend to erroneously claim. If they must care to know, we have information and facts about where their leaders’ properties are situated in the entire south-west and where their people reside in our midst as well.”