NDA attack: Bandits may overrun Aso Rock, YCE warns

Following attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) by bandits in Kaduna in the early hours of Tuesday, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), through its Senior Elders’ Forum, has warned that bandits may overrun Aso Rock if proactive steps are not taken to safeguard the presidential villa and the entire country.

Former National President of YCE, Dansaaki Samuel Agbede, who spoke with reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday, said the invasion of NDA in which two officers were reportedly killed and one abducted was unprecedented in the history of the Nigerian military.

Agbede, who is a retired colonel of the Nigerian Army, states that the attack signified that “chicken is coming home to roost. All our calls and cries for proactive actions against insecurity have been confirmed by this worrisome invasion.

“It is very worrisome that bandits could have the audacity to attack military academy and kill officers. This has never happened in the history of the military that bandits could have the effrontery to attack military academy.

“This is too disgraceful and it is just confirming what we have been saying about the fifth columnist. We have seen why we should not allow those Boko Haram insurgents into the military. It is like putting fire on our thatched roof.

“It is time to look up and gather elders together to do something about this issue. It is dangerous to leave governance of 200 million people in the hands of one man. To say that we have a Major-General as our Commander-in-Chief and this is happening is very worrisome.

“Just like we have been crying, these bandits are everywhere. We should stop dancing around for politics. It is disgusting. We really have problems and we should not wait until they overrun Aso Rock. We still appeal to the Federal Government to gather people together to address this issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Senior Elders’ Forum of YCE has raised the alarm over alleged influx of foreign herders into Lagos State, warning that it portends danger for the state. Thousands of unknown individuals, according to Agbede, have trooped in large numbers to Lagos, following a recent comment credited to a prominent northern leader from Bauchi State, who was reported to have said all Fulani people in the world are Nigerians.

“Lagos is very vulnerable. With a lot of people who have infiltrated Lagos, the state is sitting not only on a keg of gunpowder but on a barrel of gunpowder. A lot of foreigners have sneaked into Lagos State and majority of them have no place of abode. They are in every nook and cranny of Lagos. We also wonder about the show of authority by someone who calls himself Sarkin Fulani of Lagos State and Oba Rilwan Akiolu (Oba of Lagos) is sitting down comfortably looking at this thing?

“We in the YCE salute Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and the Oba of Benin, that any attempt to denigrate their ancient tradition and custom will be resisted. For Nigeria to be at peace, all these nepotism, selfishness and desire that one person wants to drive away another person out of his land must be urgently addressed. You can’t say you want to enslave a certain people for ever and this is what is causing all these problems we have as a country now. We have been crying over this since 2019 these things are coming and now they are here.

“For things to work well for us as a nation, we have to come together to dialogue. We still have problems of insecurity in Ekiti State. Some people were kidnapped at Ilejemeje in Ekiti Local Government. Fulani are still holding firm their base in Ekiti. There is much improvement in Osun, Oyo, and Ogun, but they still need to do more than what they are doing,” he said.

(Daily Sun)