The leader of Ilana Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has called for a concerted effort by all Nigerians to end terrorism. He decried the escalation of terror attacks in the North and Middle Belt.
He also spoke on the protest in London against what he described as lack of imminent solution to the security challenges in Nigeria.
Akintoye, a Third Republic Senator, alleged that “what is currently happening in the South and Middle-Belt Regions of Nigeria is State-sponsored Terrorism”.
He urged the United Nations to declare some organisations as terrorist groups to halt terrorism in the country. The octogenarian spoke on the proposed Million-Man Freedom March at the United Nations Headquaters in New York, United States of America from September 24 to September 19.
Akintoye, who doubles as the Chairman of Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS), also decried open grazing and other activities of armed herdsmen.
He said in a statement by his Communications Manager, Mr. Maxwell Adeleye, he frowned at what he described as attacks on free speech in some quarters.
He maintained that the zones should have the liberty to discuss the basis for peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.
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Describing the 1999 Constitution as a fraud, Akintoye, who was a Senator between 1979 and 1983, said the protest in London underscores the objections to the socio-political disorder in Nigeria.
Akintoye said: “The land belongs to the people through the grace of Almighty God. We the Indigenous people of the South and Middle-Belt totally reject the illegitimate and imposed 1999 Nigerian Constitution that hijacks our self-determination and assets.
“We want an end to the ethno-religious killings in Nigeria. The herdsmen you see in the South and Middle-Belt today are different from the nomadic herdsmen we grew up to know.”
He added, “We the Indigenous people now say enough is enough. Therefore, as the World leaders are meeting for the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, we want to use the opportunity to demand for a United Nations Supervised Referendums in our regions so that the indigenous people can decide on what they want for their nationhood.
“First, the fraudulent 1999 Constitution must go down. And this should happen before the 2023 general elections.”
