Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde on Friday declared that his government would not allow anyone hiding under the guise of protecting Yoruba interest to cause ethnic tension and perpetrate crisis in the state.
Mr. Makinde called on the police to arrest anyone causing tension in the state.
A statement by the chief press secretary to the governor Taiwo Adisa indicated that Makinde stated these while receiving the new Commissioner of Police in the state Ngozi Onadeko.
Makinde’s statement followed moves by a Yoruba activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, who on Friday arrived Igangan in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State to enforce an illegal order for Fulani herdsmen to exit the area.
The governor said that his administration would not allow anyone to threaten the peace of the state by acting unlawfully and saying things that are alien to the Nigerian Constitution, noting that acts that are capable of causing chaos in the state will not be accepted.
The governor said: “For people stoking ethnic tension, they are criminals and once you get them, they should be arrested and treated like common criminals.
“For this administration, the major pillar for us is security, because we know that all the good economic plans we have won’t be possible in an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity.
“So, when people say things that are neither lawful nor within the spirit of Nigeria’s Constitution, it is not acceptable here. And they cannot hide under the guise of protecting Yoruba’s interest to perpetuate chaos in the state.
“I am sure that since you came in, you must have heard about some things happening at Ibarapa axis of the state. I will still say it here that we are not after Hausa-Fulani. We are after criminals.
“We are after hoodlums and bandits irrespective of their tribe, religion, or creed. Those are the people we are after. If you look into the records, when we had the armed robbery incident at Okeho in Kajola Local Government Area of the state, some people were killed, some were arrested and we found out that they were from Ebira, from Kogi State. So, we want to go after the criminals – whether they are Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani or whoever they are.”