…”Nigeria facing genocide” Yoruba groups warn
Fresh outrage has trailed the September 17 massacre in Oke Ode, Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State, where 15 people — including vigilantes, women, children, and the village head — were killed by armed bandits.
The attack has triggered warnings from both political leaders and Yoruba groups about an impending national security collapse.
Northern Nigeria’s 19 governors, elders and political heavyweights yesterday declared that insecurity and poverty in the region have reached breaking point—warning the crisis now threatens national stability.
At the Northern Investment and Industrialisation Summit in Abuja, Zamfara state governor, Dauda Lawal urged the region to “speak with one voice”, proposing a binding Northern Economic Compact to jointly tackle security and development. Nasarawa state governor, Abdullahi Sule told colleagues to stop passing blame, saying record federal allocations left them with no excuse: “Every state now has the resources to secure its people. If we are blaming anybody, blame ourselves”.
Former House of Reps. Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, said the bloodshed had become a “curse”, demanding that insecurity in the North be treated as a national emergency. “Help is not coming from anywhere; we must take our destiny into our own hands”, he emphasised.
But the urgency is no longer regional alone. Just days after 15 villagers were slaughtered in Oke-Ode, Kwara State, presidential hopeful Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim warned the North is “sliding into war” and terrorists may soon try to set up governments in ungoverned territories.
Adding to the alarm, a coalition of 130 Yoruba groups petitioned the UN, alleging a looming “genocide” against the South-West by terrorist forces and warning of Rwanda-style bloodbath unless international action is taken.
Both Olawepo-Hashim and the Yoruba coalition accused Nigeria’s ruling elite of complacency, warning that without urgent, professional, and coordinated security action, terrorists could consolidate control over ungoverned spaces — pushing the country to the brink of state failure and possible genocide.
The Summit ended with the signing of a Northern Integrated Economic Development Charter, pledging to move from rhetoric to action in mining, agriculture, power and digital economy.
