The Nigerian military has said that claims by the Aare Ona Kakanfo-in-council that the Southwest of the country had been infiltrated by terrorists were not new as it gets such stories daily and that it had machinery in place to handle the threat.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo-in-council is an extraordinary meeting on the Yoruba nation and sundry matters affecting the Nigerian state. It was held on Tuesday and presided over by the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams.
The Council in a communique referencing intelligence report asserted that killer Fulani herdsmen had infiltrated the Southwest region and that operatives of the terrorist group, so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were within the Oke-Ogun corridor of Oyo State.
“The intel also reveals about 500 power bikes and assorted armour belonging to the terrorists have been physically sighted along abandoned Lusada route moving towards Sokoto from Igbo-Ora in Oyo State,” the communique read in part.
The Chairman of the Oyo State Security Network also called Amotekun, Colonel Kunle Togun (retd.) confirmed the Aare Ona Kakanfo’s claims, the Punch reported.
“I have been saying this for a long time. I have been saying that our land has been infiltrated. These so-called Fulani herdsmen are not herdsmen but foreign terrorists,” Col. Togun said.
But the coordinator of Defence Media Operations Major General John Enenche, said that the claims only amplify the security advice and caution recently issued by the U.S. AFRICOM.
“But I can tell you that we have put machinery in place together with other security agencies,” Maj. Gen. Enenche said. “So we should be careful, because we get such stories every day, which may be fake, though it could be true, but we don’t overlook such things.”
“So my response is that it is not new and if it is new, tell the public that we have every machinery in place together with other security agencies as usual to handle it with their cooperation.”
He urged civilians to provide information to security agencies and assured that the situation would be addressed.
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