Some hours after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) suspended its planned protest slated for June 12, 2021 against insecurity in Nigeria, the Ilana Omo Oodua headed by Prof Banji Akintoye has reiterated its determination to hold its planned rallies and matches in Yorubaland to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the iconic June 12, 1993 presidential elections.
According to a statement signed by the General Secretary of the Socio-Political Group, Arch. George Akinola, the rallies would hold tomorrow in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Akure and Ado-Ekiti.
The Group urged the police and other security operatives to exhibit maturity during the rallies and ensure that innocent people are not harassed, intimidated, arrested and killed.
The statement reads, “Our people, as usual, are encouraged to come out gaily dressed in Oodua Nation colours and vests or Omoluabi white and to carry the Yoruba flag while singing the Ogo Adulawo, Yoruba Nation national anthem with zest and gutso. We are presently in a mourning mood after the unprovoked heinous and dastardly attack unleashed on our people at Igangan in Oyo State by sponsored Fulani Terrorists. We have not forgotten! This further reinforces the resolve of Yoruba people to leave Nigeria to form a civilised nation of our own”.
However, a statement signed by NANS President, Comrade Sunday Adedayo Asefon, said that the union decided to put the protest on hold because of the security report made available by the police that some politicians have concluded plans to hijack it.
The statement stated, “Some politicians with different agendas to ours have concluded plans to hijack the protest to ventilate their political opinions and sentiments. While every Nigerians reserve the right to their opinion and the right to protest, it will be dangerous to our members if the protest is hijacked as the security agencies have shared with us credible intelligence in this regard. When some of these political players discovered that we have seen their plans and their initial solidarity with us is fake and an avenue to use our platform to ventilate their divisive agenda, they resulted in blackmailing us with lies and fake news on their platform”.
The statement continued, “Having considered the current security realities and the danger to the lives of our members in case of possible hijack of the planned protest, I, in consultation with all the structures of NANS, therefore, announce the suspension of our proposed protest for June 12. The suspension of the protest is necessary to avoid a clash of interest and clash with security agencies that are on red alert to protect the nation’s infrastructures from security breaches on the proposed date as a result of many other protests slated for the date. We intend to protest for better security and improved welfare for our students, we must therefore not put the life of any of our students at risk to ventilate our grievances”.
“While the cause of the protest remains, we believe the suspension of the protest to a later date is necessary for us to have all attention directed at our protest and not share attention with different groups protesting for different reasons. Please kindly note that our protest on better security for our schools, campuses, and Nigerians is not CANCELLED, rather SUSPENDED and a new date will be announced soon. As leaders, we are confronted with two different difficult choices; we have chosen the one we considered the best for the interest of our members. We cannot afford any of our students to be shot or wounded while protesting legitimate causes because of infiltrations or hijack. We take full responsibility for this suspension as we promise to announce a new date for our planned protest. I, therefore, call on all our structures across the country to suspend the planned protest for a later date that will be announced soon after due consultation with student leaders across the thirty-six states of the federation including the FCT. If our voices must be heard clearly, we must ensure that no other interest other than ours takes the centre stage in our protest”.
