Ife crisis: FG sowing seed of disunity —Fasehun

Dr Fredrick Fasehun, founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), says the arrest of 21 natives of Ile-Ife by the police over recent clash was an affront to the collective will of the Yoruba and portends danger for the country. He speaks to KUNLE ODEREMI.

HOW would you summarise the issues surrounding the March 8, 2017 violent clash between the indigenes of Ile-Ife and the Hausa residents in the ancient town, especially against the backdrop that those arrested over the clash are people of the Yoruba extraction?

What is happening in Ile -Ife must be stopped by the Yoruba people. The government is fanning the embers of disunity and sowing the seed of discord in Ile-Ife and those are two people that have co-existed side by side for more than 200 years without any major crisis. Now, I said the government is fanning the embers of discord, because the foremost monarch in Yorubaland is the Ooni of Ife and all monarchs are there to settle crisis emanating from their communities.

So, why did the Federal Government intervene through its agencies without mentioning it to the Ooni of Ife? And it is impunity of the highest order, when it is noted that an Oba even in that area was arrested and paraded with some persons. That is the greatest insult to the Yoruba nation. You don’t parade a monarch as a scapegoat? What for? Who has investigated his involvement, or are we now handling the governance of the state to the police, who can arrest and parade at will? That is an impunity to our tradition; impunity of the greatest order to the Ooni of Ife. It should not be condoned and allowed. It would be nice of President Muhammadu Buhari himself to intervene in the crisis or what I will describe as the ongoing madness. Nobody should be arrested until found guilty or culpable. You came to the people in their community, arrested them and took them out of their community; you didn’t mention it to the monarch who is in charge of maintaining law and order and peace in that community. That is impunity, and impunity has done a lot of damage to us in this country. It should not be allowed at the apex of governance.

The 21 persons arrested over the Ife crisis are indigenes of the ancient town. How would you rationalise such skewed arrest, given the fact two camps were involved in the incident?

The trend is nauseating and dangerous. Two people were said to have been involved in a crisis in a community, and instead of arresting people from both sides, without ascertaining the authenticity of that story, you started to take sides; you took those arrested to Abuja and detained them. That is illegal. Lawyers should stand up and defend our democracy. Government should not be seen to be unfair. Government is there to maintain peace and order, as well as guarantee the lives and properties of the people.

What does the current scenario, which some have described as an affront to the Yoruba people, portend for the country?

It is a very dangerous trend, especially for the co-habitation of the two people who have been known to co-habit for more than 200 years. Not only that, you have now undermined the authority of the Ooni of Ife, who is one of the most prominent monarchs in the country. Since he assumed the throne of his forefathers, he has been going round preaching peace, preaching communal peace, preaching inter-tribal peace. You can see what you have done to his efforts and authority!  People have to encourage the Ooni to continue his crusade to boost Nigerian unity, peace and order. So, the current situation is very dangerous for the country. Why has the government decided to undermine the provision of the constitution? It is a slap on Yoruba tradition and culture and it should not be allowed. A Yoruba traditional ruler was arrested and taken to Abuja and paraded with those wrongly arrested. That is unfair.

What should be done in the interim to douse the tension resulting from the arrests?

We have advised the authorities that these people should be released within 48 hours and then the Federal Government should set up a commission of inquiry. You should not arrest people without a legal authority.

From what we have witnessed so far and the attendant anger, some people have said the current development could compel people to resort to self-help because of waning public confidence in the police by aggrieved stakeholders? 

That’s why we said the law should take its normal course. If you do not allow that, we will not have justice, and where there is injustice, people tend to resort to self-help, and self-help will destroy any community, large or small.