OPC Warns Boko Haram Against Attacks in S’West

The Oodua Peoples Congress has warned the Boko Haram sect not to extend its activities to the South-West region to avoid reprisals capable of causing chaos in the country.

The Chairman of OPC in Oyo State, Mr. Adekunle Lawal, spoke at Mapo Hall, Ibadan on Friday after the inauguration of the local committees of the Congress in the 33 councils in the state.

Lawal warned that the Congress would not wait for government to appeal for calm if the Boko Haram carry its reported threats to attack some places in the South-West.

He said, “We have been reliably informed that the Boko Haram sect are contemplating to bomb Cocoa House and the University of Ibadan which are the legacies of the Yoruba race.

“The Boko Haram claims to be an Islamic sect and we have a large number of Muslims in the South-West. As a Muslim, I know that the religion abhors killing of fellow human beings as they are now doing in the North by bombing churches and markets on a daily basis. This is totally unacceptable.”

The OPC chief advised the sect to make its grievances known to the government with a view to addressing them rather than threatening the peace of the nation.

He said the committees had been mandated to see to the security of lives and property of the people in their areas of jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Osun State traditional rulers have advocated concerted efforts between government and the citizenry to stem the rising tide of insecurity in the country.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the second quarterly meeting of the Osun Divisional Conference of Obas, which met at the palace of the Ataoja of Osogbo on Sunday.