By Olayinka Ajayi

The Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, otherwise known as Think Yoruba First, TYF, has urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently declare a state of emergency on the entire security architecture of Kwara State.

The group in a statement by it’s public relations officer, Oluwole Lewis while reacting to the massacre of no fewer than 12 persons, including the Baale of Ogbayo, were killed during Sunday morning’s bandits’ attack on Oke-Ode community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state stressed that a military operation must be launched to temporarily secure the lives and combat bandit attacks in the area.

According to the statement; “Your Excellency, it is with heavy hearts and a sense of urgency that we plead for your direct and immediate intervention in the troubled zones of Kwara state, particularly Ifelodun LGA. Hundreds of lives and properties have been lost including children and other vulnerable groups of society. These victims were all civilians living peaceful and quiet lives.

“It must be emphasized that the entire security architecture has been overwhelmed in Kwara as the attacks continue unabated. These attacks often employ the guerrilla warfare strategy where they exploit the massive unpoliced landmass and the very poor response time of security agencies.

“We demand a State of emergency for security in Kwara North and South for peculiar reasons like: Most troubled towns don’t have a single police station nor a semblance of law enforcement apparatus, most of those communities have less than 8,000 residents and are very far from the closest towns with Military presence, government presence, stable electricity and Internet access are almost non-existent in those towns, which significantly affects their capacity to send any SOS request.

“In the latest attack on Sunday, at least a dozen civilians were brutally murdered in cold blood around Oke-Ode in Ifelodun LGA by ruthless terrorists who seem to get bolder every day.

“In situations like the above, a State of emergency and an overhaul of the architecture in the troubled zones have become an urgent necessity.

“The situation has gone beyond only the capacity of a State Government or the Police; A military operation must be launched to temporarily secure the lives of our people and combat these monsters, as we search for permanent solutions. We are demanding not just a federal intervention but an immediate one to stem the bleeding.

“Mr. President, as people who want you to succeed, we must reiterate that posterity awaits you.

” History will either remember you as the empathetic leader who intervened to save lives or the indecisive President who watched his people and region burn.”