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76th UNGA: Yoruba nation agitators mobilising for nation wide protests, YAF alleges

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A coalition under the aegis of the Yoruba Appraisal Forum [YAF] has raised the alarm over alleged plan by a group, Yoruba World Congress [YWC], to instigate violence and cause chaos in Nigeria with a view to bringing down the country and the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
YAF alleged that the YWC, in concert with the Eastern Security Network [ESN], the armed unit of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB]; some aggrieved Niger Delta militants and members of some militia groups in Benue and Plateau states had concluded plans to instigate violence across the country with the objective of effecting a violent change of government in Nigeria, immediately after the 76th United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] meeting, which begins tomorrow in New York, United States of America.
The Forum stated that the alleged plan by the YWC to storm tomorrow’s opening session of the UNGA by the Yoruba nation agitators, who had plans to bombard the UN with “fabricated documents and documentaries,” was being  coordinated by the leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof Banji Akintoye.
YAF had in July petitioned the United Nations, its five permanent members, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and other powerful countries across the world over a plan by the Akintoye-led Ilana Omo Oodua, to present a petition against the Nigerian government at the 76th General Assembly of the UN.
The Forum, which in the petition urged the UN and the five Super Power countries to bar Ilana Omo Oodua and its allies from attending the UNGA to present its petition against the Federal Government of Nigeria, had stated that “the ultimate objective of this plan by the group is to achieve nothing salutary or beneficial to the people of Nigeria but to further their evil design to undermine and bring down the country and the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, out of sheer malice over the forthcoming 2023 general elections.”
Ilana Omo Oodua had earlier announced plans to attend the 76th UNGA scheduled for September to present a petition to the global body over its demand for a separate and independent Yoruba Nation.
YAF, in a statement on Monday by its National Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, alleged that the YWC planned to submit some fabricated documents and other fake materials to the 74th UNGA holding in the US to discredit the President Buhari-led government and then return to the country to instigate violence and chaos.
The Forum claimed that ahead of their alleged plans, the YWC had already mobilised a number of self-determination and civil society groups contracted to initiate the planned violence and confrontation with the security agencies.
The Forum alleged that YWC and its allies “have snatched over 300 AK-47 rifles from military, police and para-military personnel they have attacked and killed across the country,” adding, “Those dangerous weapons are still in possession of these the non-state actors bent on destroying Nigeria. As at the last count, these dangerous groups, including Ilana Omo Oodua, have killed no fewer than 180 military men, 600 other para-military personnel, including policemen.”
The Forum said, “We are aware that these groups (YWC, Ilana Omo Oodua and allies) and individuals behind the recent violence in different parts of the South-West of Nigeria have a more sinister objective of destabilising the Nigerian nation for the selfish political end of those bankrolling them. They are only merely covering up their agenda with the cloak of fighting for Yoruba freedom and self-determination. Their plan now is to take their self-imposed agitation for independence and self-determination to the next level, which would involve outright widespread violence fashioned after what the IPOB/ESN are now doing in the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria.
“It is very clear that the masterminds of this violence are bent on throwing Nigeria into total chaos to hasten the collapse of governments at both the state and Federal levels to enable them to execute their evil plans for Nigeria, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“They are planning to take advantage of the current security challenges in the country to wreak further havoc, starting with the South-West and expecting to instigate reprisals against Southerners in the North of Nigeria with the ultimate objective of destabilising the country, just as their partner-in-crime, IPOB is currently doing in the South-East and South-South regions of this country.
“But we, as bonafide Yoruba and Nigerians, are now telling these rabble rousers that enough is enough! They should stop hiding under the banner of agitating for Yoruba freedom and independence to engage in felony and instigate disaffection amongst the citizens of the country.
“Nigeria’s well-being remains an issue of global importance and concern and the international community cannot afford not to continue to make things better for the country and all her citizens.”

 

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