Some Yoruba leaders have asked
the army authorities to ensure that Olusegun Adeniyi, former theatre commander
of Operation Lafiya Dole, is safe in custody.
There are reports that Adeniyi, a
major-general, is to face a court-martial.
A court martial is a legal
proceeding for military officers. It is similar to a civilian court trial.
Adeniyi was all over the news in
March when a video where he complained of the lack of weapons for troops
fighting Boko Haram insurgents went viral.
After the video, he was removed
as commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and transferred to the Nigerian Army
Resource Centre in Abuja.
He was later moved to the Army
Headquarters, still in Abuja.
At a meeting on the platform of
the Yoruba Summit Group (YSG) in Lagos during the weekend, Rueben Fasoranti,
Afenifere leader; Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Yoruba World Congress (YWC), Banji
Akintoye, chairman of Voice of Reason (VOR); Olusegun Mimiko, former governor
of Ondo state, demanded justice for Adeniyi.
Others who attended the meeting
are Oye Ibidapo-Obe, former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos; Yinka
Odumakin, spokesman of Afenifefre; and Gani Adams, a leader of the O’dua Peoples
Congress (OPC).
The leaders said the plight of
soldiers on the battlefront is well known, adding that no one should be
punished for speaking the truth.
They also demanded an
investigation into the death of Tolulope Arotile, Nigeria’s first female helicopter
pilot, who died in a freak accident earlier in the month.
The leaders called on the federal
government to constitute an independent panel of inquiry to look into the death
of Arotile, alleging that there is more to the death of the late Arotile than
being reported.
 |
| Siblings of Arotile performing the dust to dust rite at her funeral in Abuja last week |
“We are also aware of the initial
casual manner Tolulope Arotile’s killing was treated by the authorities of the
Nigerian Air Force which is capable of raising suspicion in the minds people.
It is better to quickly douse tension and apprehension by coming out in the
open,” they said in a communique issued at the end of the meeting.
“The authorities did not imagine
that so much noise would be made, and so many questions would be asked. Her
death was treated with levity, just as many other cases where the lives of
Nigerians do not seem to matter anymore.
“The Yorùbá nation therefore
demands a full-scale independent investigation by an inclusive panel of
experts. The Yorùbá nation notes with sadness that on the very day our daughter
Tolulope went home, a senior Military officer: Major General Olusegun Adeniyi
was court-martialled for daring to voice out the lack of tools and equipment
needed to prosecute a Boko Haram war that has become far too prolonged and far
too controversial in light of the numerous calls to the Federal Government to
change the Military ’Service Chiefs who have failed to provide the highest
quality of security, leadership and delivery of forthrightness in their duties.
“We the Yorùbá condemn in strong
terms, the cherry-picking of our fighters, soldiers, officers as either cannon
fodders easy-targets, operational fall-guys and being used for experimental
disciplinary measures, whilst the real culprits, go free!
“Critical to this development are
also pieces of news items of friendly fire from soldiers of a particular part
of the country using their guns on our fighters who dare carry the battle deep
into the Boko Haram held territories.”
The Yoruba leaders also demanded
the restructuring of the country ahead of the 2023 general election.
“We the Yorùbá Nation therefore
reject the holding of a future general election before Restructuring Nigeria
fiscally and structurally. We state that the ship of state is veering off precariously
into a precipice, and that Nigeria is at the very edge of a political
subsidence,” the communique read.
“We are persuaded that nothing
short of Restructuring can save this country. Any attempt to go ahead with
elections in 2023 without addressing the issue of Restructuring would spell
doom for Nigeria.
“Notwithstanding the interests of
some elements in our midst, it would be presumptuous to assume that the masses
of the educated Yoruba Nation will dive headlong into being part of the 2023
elections, when all elements of its execution – the military, paramilitary,
INEC, the judiciary have been rigged and appropriated by a single very tiny
minority ethnic group in a small corner of the country.
“The emerging resolve of the
Yoruba not to be part of vassal state that Nigeria has become, is better
managed with due accommodation before any further degeneration and obvious
consequences. Our quest shall henceforth be to mobilise the masses of our
peoples not to participate in any further elections until the goal of
Restructuring or Self-determination is attained.
“The Yoruba Nation is therefore
making the clarion call for confidence building steps to taken by the Buhari
regime immediately, especially as the historic 60th Anniversary of Nigeria as
an independent Nation beckons on October 1, 2020.
“Steps towards an urgent meeting
of all Nationalities has to be taken now to determine the nature of our
relationships. Unless this peaceful step is heeded to, so that Nigeria heads in
the right direction thereafter, the clear alternative would be for
self-determination quests to proceed rapidly without any further restraint.”
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