The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Monday said members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) were not involved in the Ojota fracas in Lagos.
POLITICS NIGERIA had reported that one person was killed in a clash between Yoruba Nation agitators and security operatives in Ojota area of Lagos State on Monday morning.
Commuters ran to safety in the heat of the pandemonium which broke out.
This newspaper learned that shortly after Yoruba Nation agitators took to the streets, the men of the Lagos State Police Command came out in procession with a detachment of personnel from Rapid Response Squad (RRS), State Taskforce and conventional divisional officers.
The security agents shot teargas to disperse the crowd and chaos began after one of the separatists died on the spot.
A police van was burnt in the ensuing melee.
The separatists were alleged to have shot pump action guns which hit a police officer, Superintendent of Police, Akinwunmi Oke.
Some social media posts had claimed that OPC members spearheaded the Yoruba Nation protest which turned violent, but Adams refuted that claim.
“Let me clear the air on the crisis that had engulfed Ojota this morning. There were unconfirmed reports linking members of the OPC to the mayhem. I want to state it clearly that none of our member were at the scene of the incident,” the Yoruba leader said in a statement.
“OPC is not against the liberation of Yoruba race, however, it is a fact that the struggle for the liberation of Yoruba race is an inalienable right of all Yoruba to champion self determination. We are not part of the peaceful rally held in Ojota.
“Our position on regionalism is very clear. It is sacrosanct, because that is what we are seeking at the moment.
“Nigeria should be restructured to full regional autonomy, where each region will be at liberty to operate at their own pace [sic].”
IT’S A VERY INTERERESTING ISSUES CONCERNING OUR NATION CALL “NIGERIA” A DECLINING ENTITY STATEHOOD DUE TO MAN MADE SYSTEMS. NOW AND AGAIN THE NATION SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN,”RESTRUCTURED” IN 1999 ON ASSUMPTIOM OF DEMOCRATIC RULES IN THE COUNTRY SADLY ENOUGH TILL DATE THE NATION NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES FAILED THE ACID TESTS HENCE WHAT WE ARE SEEING TODAY I DO PERFECT VIEWED THAT WE HAVE DIVERSE APPROACH TO THE ISSUES I WILL DISAGREE THAT NIGERIA BE RETURNED TO REGIONAL SYSTEMS INSTEAD “STATES” AND FEDERAL STRUCTURES”SHOULD AND MUST BE STRENGHTENED FOR INSTANCE “WHY LOCAL GOVERNMENT NOT AUTONOMY? WHY JUDICIARY NOT INDEPENDENT? AND WHY LEGISLATURE NOT ALSO INDEPENDENT? THOSE ARE BASIC VALUES OF “RESTRUCTURING” WE WANT IS IT NOT A SHAME ON NATION LIKE OURS WHERE HUMAN LIFE IS VALUELESS LAWLESSNESS COUPLE WITH ALL FORM OF VICES IS NOW MONEY MAKING IN NIGERIA LARGELY DUE TO WEAK “INSTITUTIONS” WHEN WE HAVE VIABLE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS NIGERIA CAN MOVE A STEP FORWARD THE NATION WOES TODAY IS TRACABLE TO FAILURE OF N/A