OPC now well positioned to tackle herdsmen’s menace —Victor Egbeola, Ondo OPC coordinator

Olayemi Victor Egbeola, popular known as “Oosa”, is the coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Ondo State. He speaks with HAKEEM GBADAMOSI on the efforts the organisation is making in curbing the activities of herdsmen in the state.

Killings and wanton destruction of farm produce is on the increase across the country. What are the efforts of OPC in curbing the activities of herdsmen in the state?

We have been organising ourselves into groups to provide security in the state through all zones, units, local government areas and even at the state level. There is no faction among us here again. We all pursue same objective of providing security to our people and this becomes more imperative now because we must be united to fight against these killer herdsmen. We understand what our people want and that is what we are doing now so that, at the end of the day, we will not turn to be enemy of the people we set out to defend. This is one of the reasons we are consulting with traditional rulers and community heads to join hands with us in providing security for our people in various communities.

There are reported cases of herdsmen attacking farmers and other people in the state. How do you want to go about stopping the incidents?

Let me tell you this: OPC has turned to a well organised organisation with more cohesion and a moderate approach to critical issues and we think we must handle the issue of these herdsmen in a civil manner. This is one of the reasons we are establishing synergy with the security agencies in the state. We cannot take the law into our hands, but we have some strategies on how we can give adequate security to our people. All we need is the support of our people. We live here and understand the terrain. We want to curb the activities of the criminals among the herdsmen before the situation gets out of hand because they are becoming more daring every day. Things have gotten so bad to the extent that these criminals confront and engages security operatives without fear. Before it gets out of hand, we must do something and Yoruba leaders should join hands with us.

But nothing seems to be happening from OPC in terms of providing security…

We are working underground and you know we cannot be discussing all our moves on the pages of newspapers. We have been able to apprehend some criminals among the herdsmen in recent times and we handed them over to the state police command. On our own, we organised security for communities against these herdsmen’s invasion. We should not wait until they start to kill our people before we plan to defend them. We want to reorganise ourselves to defend the interest of Yoruba people.

Both Aare Ona Kaanfo Gani Adams and Dr Frederick Faseun’s factions must work together in the interest of the people. OPC members should get prepared, whether there is war or not. The herdsmen have turned to something else: They kidnapped people in Ore; they attacked the wife of one of our members in Akure North Local Government Area and people are fleeing their farms because of the activities of the herdsmen. Chief Olu Falae’s farm was burnt. It is time for us to rise up to defend our territories.

And there was what happened at the Akure South Local Government Area secretariat recently.

That is why I said they are becoming more daring. They have moved from villages to towns now and even into the state capital. I believe these men are not only herdsmen; some terrorists have infiltrated into the camp of the cattle rearers and they are the ones committing these atrocities. It is not that we don’t know what to do. This is one of the reasons we met recently in Akure and we solicited for the support of the two leaders of the OPC because we cannot, on our own, take any drastic steps unless there are directives from our leaders. We have taken a giant step of putting our house in order to avoid factions between us and to also allow us to speak with one voice.

We noticed that the herdsmen are getting more daring and we can no longer continue to preach patience when our guests are disrespecting our territorial integrity. As it is, the territorial integrity of the Yoruba race is at risk and this is the time for the Yoruba people, especially the youth, to stand up and defend their nation. If it is confrontation, we are prepared to confront these people. Enough is enough. It is getting dangerous; the audacity is very disturbing. The herdsmen have succeeded in chasing away farmers from their farms. They are now coming to town to confront us. We need to act fast.

What do you think is responsible for the effrontery of the herdsmen?

People are only shouting and shouting without paying attention to what should be done. There is need for the people and leaders of the Yoruba race to come together and find a lasting solution to this menace because we have to protect the lives and property of our people here. Our action should go beyond speaking on the pages of newspapers; we need to speak the truth and find a way to curb the incessant attacks on our people. But we are calling on the security agencies to create the atmosphere that will enable us to work together in curbing the activities of these herdsmen.

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