Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described those saying that he was the one sponsoring the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as people who have put themselves in political bondage and have allowed what they will eat to becloud their sense of normal reasoning, declaring that no amount of blackmail will stop him from expressing his mind against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government’s disrespect for the constitutional rights of Nigerians.
Governor Fayose, who said he was not surprised that the APC in Ekiti State raised the ridiculous allegation, added that the same APC people took sides with Fulani herdsmen when they killed people in Oke-Ako, Ekiti State, and destroyed farmlands worth several millions of naira.
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said that he was not among those Nigerians that can be cowed by anyone, asking; “Now that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki has come out to openly say that categorization of IPOB as a terrorist organisation by the military is unconstitutional, is the APC also going to accuse him of sponsoring IPOB?”
The governor said that he was not unaware that Ekiti State could be the main target of the ‘operation crocodile smile’ that the army said will commence in the Southwest and South South, asking what security threat was being witnessed in the Southwest to warrant a major military operation.
“Herdsmen have sacked a whole community in this country, they killed over 1,000 Agatus in Benue State and have destroyed people’s farmlands across the country, has any of the herdsmen been arrested? Has any conceited effort been made by the federal government to curb the menace of the Fulani herdsmen?
“If because I spoke against the wanton killings carried out by the military in the Southeast, the APC is saying that I’m funding IPOB, was I the one funding the people of Southern Kaduna when I condemned the killings there?
“Was I funding the Agatus in Benue State when I condemned their killings by Fulani herdsmen? Was I funding the Shiite Muslims when I condemned the killings of El-Zakzaky’s followers in Zaria and his continued detention?
“Mine is a mission for a Nigeria where no one will be treated like a second class citizen and we can only achieve that if we have leaders that will not be a champion of nepotism like President Buhari.”