There will be retaliation if Fulani kidnap in South West continues, says YOLICOM
By Yomi Alao

Yoruba youths and self-determination groups will hold Fulani leaders responsible for the spate of kidnapping in the South West which are largely linked to Fulani herdsmen.
The Yoruba Liberation Command, (YOLICOM) said it may be compelled to adopt the philosophy of proportional response if the kidnapping of innocent people in the South West by the herdsmen continues. The YOLICOM statement was made available to Irohinoodua.

Many of the kidnap victims, including minors are raped in several instances, the statement issued by the Central Working Committee of YOLICOM said. YOLICOM warn of dare consequences if the kidnapping and assault on the Yoruba people continue unabated by the Nigerian authorities.
The group said Fulani leaders should imagine what could have happened if Kano and Sokoto are besieged by Yoruba kidnappers who rape their girls, rape their married women and kidnap their Emirs. The Fulani kidnappers, YOLICOM said have turned Yorubaland into a land of “fear and trembling.” It said the silence of Fulani leaders in the kidnapping suggest acquiesces and perhaps tactical support
“Our patient is running out. We cannot continue to witness the bruising of our pride and the day-light assault on the dignity of Yoruba Nation by Fulani raiders. University students and many rich Yoruba people are being kidnapped daily. Many of them pay the ransom in silence and are too traumatised to speak on their horrific experiences” the group stated.
It identified Ondo and Ekiti States, Oke Ogun in Oyo State, Yelwa in Ogun State, Osogbo and Iwaraja axis in Osun State, Kabba and Lokoja in Kogi State as the focal points of the kidnappers who operate without restraint.
YOLICOM said that that due to the ceaseless kidnapping, farmers have abandoned their farms, women can no longer go to the stream to fetch water and economic trees are being destroyed by the heavily armed kidnappers who hibernate in thick forests belonging to the Yoruba nation. “We see this as a prelude to invasion of Yorubaland preceded by a theatre of psychological war threats and assaults.”
The group berates the political leadership in the South West for what it described as their “conspiratorial silence” on the siege that has been imposed on the entire Yorubaland.
The YOLICOM statement is coming on the heels of the kidnap of the former Dr Abiodun Hamzat, a University lecturer in Oyo State and the kidnap of a traditional ruler and some members of staff of Osun College of Technology, Esa-Oke in Osun State. Residents of six local governments in Osun on Friday led by Dr Adigun Adewoye issued a statement lamenting the increasing wave of kidnapping in Ijesa and several Osun communities.
In Ekiti State, the former Commissioner for Land, Urban and Regional Planning, Elder Remi Olorunleke and the Director of Administration in a local government in Ekiti State, Mr Jejelowo were kidnapped on Monday. They were not released until Thursday after a huge sum of money has been paid as ransom.
The group said the kidnappers are of Fulani extraction and have built several tents across the Yoruba ancestral territories and forests, cities and villages across the entire South West. “Due to authority silence, kidnapping has become huge business for the Fulani herdmen who realize that they can make millions of naira in one week far more than what they can realize from raising cows in three years. This has led to the large migration of crook aliens and criminal elements from across West Africa to the South West where kidnapping has become a profitable venture.