Two police officers have been shot by Yoruba nation agitators in the Ojota area of Lagos State during a rally on Monday, January 9, 2023.
This is according to the spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, who said the two injured officers are receiving treatment.
Channels Television had reported that a yet-to-be-identified male adult was killed in a clash between Yoruba Nation agitators and the police in Ojota.
Commuters ran for safety in the heat of the pandemonium which broke out on Monday, January 9, 2023.
A source told Channels Television that some agitators came out to demand the Yoruba Nation amongst others and the police came out to curtail them, leading to a clash.
In a statement, Hundeyin said the agitators were disrupting social and commercial activities in the Ojota area under the pretext of the rally.
“A team of police officers, comprising Alausa Division and the Raid Respond Squad (RRS) promptly stepped in to disperse the unlawful gathering and prevent a breakdown of law and order,” he said.
“The miscreants attacked the police, shooting, and destroying two vehicles in the process. One person has been confirmed dead, while two police officers shot by the miscreants are currently receiving treatment.
“Four suspects have been arrested and investigations have commenced. Meanwhile, normalcy has been restored to the area. Lagosians are urged to go about their lawful businesses as measures have been put in place to prevent further breakdown of law and order, and keen monitoring of the situation continues.”
In the early hours of today, miscreants masquerading as Yoruba Nation Agitators came out in their hundreds, disrupting social and commercial activities at Ojota area of the State. pic.twitter.com/15wxbRO8lg
— SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) January 9, 2023
OPC Not Involved In Fracas – Gani Adams
Meanwhile, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Gani Adams, has debunked media reports that members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) were involved in the crisis that erupted in Ojota.
Gani in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, said the Ojota rally came as a surprise, adding that none of his members were part of the crisis.
He described media report that members of the OPC were among the agitators was wicked, mischievous, and uncalled for.
According to Adams, the unconfirmed report could trigger crisis and cause unnecessary disaffection between the OPC and sons and daughters of Yoruba race.
“Let me clear the air on the crisis that had engulfed Ojota this morning. There were unconfirmed reports linking members of the OPC to the mayhem. I want to state it clearly that none of our member were at the scene of the incident,” he said.
“OPC is not against the liberation of Yoruba race, however, it is a fact that the struggle for the liberation of Yoruba race is an inalienable right of all Yoruba to champion self-determination. We are not part of the peaceful rally held in Ojota.
“Our position on regionalism is very clear. It is sacrosanct because that is what we are seeking at the moment.
“Nigeria should be restructured to full regional autonomy, where each region will be at liberty to operate at their own pace.”
2023: Tinubu Blasts Atiku For Saying Northerners Want President From North Not Igbo Or Yoruba
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has said that the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar is a ‘Tribal Jingoist’.
Tinubu’s comment is coming a day after footage of Atiku campaigning in the North went viral on social media.
The Adamawa-born politician was heard telling Party faithful that the North does not need a Yoruba or an Igbo President only a Northern one. The video has drawn widespread condemnation.
Tinubu, in a statement on Sunday, October 16, 2022, signed by his Director, Media, and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, added that Atiku’s ‘Tribalism’ was the reason why the PDP was in crisis. He stated that Atiku has refused to persuade the national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu to resign because he is also from the North.
The PDP’s zoning arrangement stipulates that if the Party chairman is from the North, the Presidential candidate will come from the South.
This is the reason why Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike alongside 4 other governors have refused to participate in Atiku’s campaign.
The statement read; “The statement of Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku to the effect that Northerners don’t need a Yoruba or Igbo president is the worst expression of ethnocentric opportunism ever uttered by a former Nigerian Vice President.”
“This clearly demonstrates how low a man honoured with the second highest office of the Nigerian Constitution is willing to sink in search of a perennial wild goose chase after the highest office in the land. It confirms the argument that Atiku has feasted on such base, cheap, primordial sentiments to use the masses and the elite of the North as the ladder to ascend to power since 1989 without any dividends to show.”
“Doubling down in his now infamous speech, Atiku said: “What the average Northerner needs is somebody who is from the north and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country.”
“This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate. I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
“In clear terms, Atiku who stole the PDP ticket, by a similar mindset, has cast himself as a northern candidate, who should solely be supported by the people from his region. We view Atiku’s public declaration which framed him as an ethnic and regional champion as unbecoming for a man who was once a Vice-President of Nigeria.”
“But we are not surprised by his desperate position. Atiku has resorted to whipping up ethnic sentiments, knowing that his chances of being elected have become a mirage. He has himself, not anybody else, to blame for his expected electoral misfortune. First, he broke the fundamental rules of power rotation in his party and the country.”
“As if this cardinal sin was not enough, the PDP candidate has remained defiant in the face of pressure by preserving the two topmost posts in his party for people from his region. The Nigerian public now know better that a man who has been campaigning as a so-called unifier of our disparate groups, is a tribal jingoist, who has now totally eviscerated all pretensions to being a detribalized Nigerian.”
“He is demonstrably the anti-thesis of a pan-Nigerian politician. Nigerians of goodwill, who, daily, seek a united and prosperous nation, should reject Atiku and his party at the polls next February.”
“Atiku only pays lip service to national unity, despite that it features as one of the 5 cardinal points of his so-called “Covenant with Nigerians”. The facade is over, he is now fully naked before the Nigerian people.”
