Militants attack Ogun State Deputy Governor, Onanuga
By Kunle Aderiba
Armed militants, suspected to be of Ijaw extraction yesterday attacked the convoy of the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, Irohinoodua was informed on Monday.
The militants operating in the creeks of the South West states opened fire on the convoy with heavy weapons on Monday.
“We were attacked. The soldiers were overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the militants. The intention was to kill the important dignitaries in the entourage”, an official told Irohinoodua on Monday. On the entourage were the Brigade Commander, 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala Barrack, Mohammed Danqalis, the Diretor of the Department of State Security Services, (DSS), Ogun State Comand, Kabiru Sanni, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Bello Makwashi and other important state functionaries.
“This level of team led by the deputy governor cannot access a part of our state. It means without mincing words, the Federal Government needs to get involved in this,’ the Secretary to the State Government Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa told journalists in a chat. He said it is ‘clearly beyond the capacity of the police. This is something which we believe in Ogun State, a major task force like the one we have in Niger Delta is necessary and desirable now.”
But the Ogun State coordinator of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC), AbdulGaniyu Adeyinka said the activities of the militants has taken a high toll on the ordinary people of the state. “Last week the militants killed 50 people, poor people. The government did nothing. Now that the Deputy Governor has been attacked they are shouting that they want military task force. It shows clearly how parochial and self-centred many political leaders are.’ He said in a very angry tone “He said further that he could not imagine the Oodua groups setting up a base in Kano to attack Hausa-Fulani or in Port Harcourt to attack the state government.
Hear him “The current office holders in the South West are patently naïve and stupid. They are asking for Task Force when in reality the same task force will take bribe and allow the attacks to go on because the Task Force are not Yoruba people and do not have a stake in Yorubaland.”
According to him, the only way out if for Ogun State to have state police and set up her own vigilante groups. “All the Northern States have armed vigilante groups. So what is the problem with Ogun State governor except that many of this people are agents of the repression of their own people.” He said he does not believe that attackers were acting on behalf of the entire Ijaw nation describing them as ‘fringe criminal elements.”