The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) have warned that Nigeria risks sliding into anarchy if the federal government fails to rein in Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
The warning follows a reported ultimatum issued by Igboho to Fulani leaders in Oyo State after the recent abduction of a pregnant woman and her relatives.
The northern socio-cultural groups, alongside several Fulani pastoralist associations, accused Igboho of ethnic profiling.
They cautioned that attempting to hold an entire ethnic group responsible for the actions of suspected criminals could inflame regional tensions, provoke dangerous reprisals, and undermine national unity.
However, Igboho pushed back against the criticisms, defending his actions by stating that his security advocacy in the South-West targets criminal elements—such as kidnappers, bandits, and killers—rather than any specific ethnic nationality.
The kidnapping spark
The brewing controversy stems from a viral video in which Igboho reportedly issued a two-hour ultimatum to Fulani leaders in the Igboho community, located in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, demanding the immediate release of the abducted victims.
In the video, Igboho alleged that unnamed Fulani men were behind the local kidnappings and were holding the victims in a nearby forest.
The Oyo State Police Command and the Oorelope Local Government chairman have since dismissed circulating rumours that the abducted woman, Mrs. Kuburat Omowumi, her son, and her relatives had regained their freedom.
Authorities confirmed they remain in captivity and that active rescue operations are still underway.
Northern groups condemn ‘ethnic profiling’
Reacting to the ultimatum, the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, described Igboho’s directives as unconstitutional and highly dangerous.
“It is the duty of the state, security agencies, and community leaders to call him to order and to make it clear that ethnic profiling is a two-edged sword, a recipe for anarchy,” Muhammad-Baba said.
He argued that kidnapping has evolved into a multi-ethnic criminal enterprise, making it counterproductive to blame an entire community for the actions of a few individuals. “Criminality has no tribe, and to assume otherwise is to engage in collective illusory self-deception.”
Echoing these concerns, NEF spokesperson Prof. Abubakar Jiddere emphasised that stereotyping entire populations threatens national safety. He noted that pastoralist communities themselves are frequent victims of rural insecurity.
“Many people do not know that Fulani people suffer heavily as a result of banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling in states like Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, and Kebbi,” Jiddere stated, urging public figures to exercise maturity and prioritise national peace over ethnic sentiments.
Concurrently, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) condemned the Oyo incident while raising separate concerns over reports that operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun) had allegedly profiled and publicly humiliated Hausa and Fulani women engaged in lawful trades in Ondo State.
CNG National Coordinator Jamilu Charanchi called on the Ondo State Government to investigate the conduct of the Amotekun personnel involved.
Additional condemnations came from Dr. Muhammad Hussaini, National President of Kautal Fulaku Fulbe, and Khalil Muhammad Bello, President of the Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria, both of whom reminded stakeholders that the Nigerian Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to reside and conduct lawful business anywhere in the country without intimidation.
Calls for state police and Igboho’s defence
Weighing in on the security breakdown in Oke-Ogun, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, described the ongoing wave of abductions and killings as entirely unacceptable.
Read Also: Sunday Igboho threatens to expose politicians behind Oyo school abductions
