Agitators from the Oduduwa Nation try to scuttle elections in the South-West – IGP

Although there have been isolated instances of Yoruba Nation protests recently, the police have issued a warning that any disturbance of the quiet will not be tolerated.

Usman Baba, the IGP, claimed that some separatist agitators operating under the auspices of the Oduduwa Nation are stockpiling weapons in an effort to sabotage the general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11 in the South-West geopolitical zone.

At a meeting with strategic police managers held on Monday at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the IGP revealed this.

He also bemoaned the proliferation of cyberbullying for political purposes, which he said is on the rise every day, as well as the trafficking of light weapons and small arms to promote political extremism, violence, and intolerance.

In the South-West geopolitical region, secessionist agitation became more prominent in mid-2021. Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, a campaigner for the Yoruba Nation, led the uprising.

However, the unrest subsided after the Department of State Services raided Igboho’s Ibadan home on July 1, 2021. Later, the agitator fled to the Benin Republic, where security personnel in the nation of francophone West Africa apprehended him. Later, he was granted bail and released, but he never went back to Nigeria.

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The police have issued a warning that any disturbance of the quiet will not be tolerated notwithstanding recent pockets of agitation by Yoruba Nation protestors.

On Monday, the IGP addressed the police officers, saying, “As you are aware, some crimes of national security importance could undermine our efforts to firmly establish a peaceful electioneering process, if not appropriately curbed.

“These include banditry and terrorism, which have wreaked havoc on a number of localities in the North-west and North-Central with detrimental impacts on the economic and social well-being of the population.

“In a similar vein, violent secessionist campaigns by IPOB/ESN members have targeted a number of institutions of democratic governance, including INEC resources, police stations and personnel, as well as other security agencies and Federal Government infrastructures, all in an effort to sabotage the 2023 general elections in the South East geopolitical zone.

“Other important crimes include the expanding actions of the Oduduwa Nation Agitators, who, according to intelligence sources, have been trying to gather weapons and mobilise other resources in an effort to sabotage the peace, security, and electoral process in the South-West geopolitical zone.”

The IGP urged the officers to act “within the bounds of the Electoral Act and other legislation” and promised Nigerians that the police would work to ensure that the polls were secure, free, fair, and credible.