OSOGBO, NIGERIA — The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has strongly condemned Nigerian politicians across party lines for allegedly weaponising the country’s security challenges for partisan gains, describing those who engage in the act as “political bandits.”
The first-class traditional ruler made these remarks in a statement issued on Friday by his Press Secretary, Alli Ibraheem. The monarch’s reaction followed the successful rescue operation by security agencies that freed the abducted teachers and pupils of Oriire Local Government Area in Oyo State.
Commending the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the nation’s security chiefs, Oba Akanbi stated that the successful rescue operations provide renewed hope that Nigeria can decisively defeat the menace of banditry and kidnapping. However, he expressed deep dissatisfaction with the response of opposition figures to the country’s security architecture.
“National security and national cohesion should be prioritised beyond political attachment,” the Oluwo stated. “The dignity of human lives lost to insecurity in Nigeria should not be subjected to political sentiment by politicians. It saddens me to read in the media of politicians politicizing insecurity. It’s a clear demonstration of political immaturity, insensitivity, and political banditry. Most of those politicizing insecurity are political bandits.”
The monarch argued that victims of kidnapping and banditry do not carry party cards, emphasizing that criminal elements do not select targets based on ethnic or political lines. He challenged top opposition leaders to shift from media criticisms to active engagement by offering actionable solutions directly to the presidency.
Specifically, Oba Akanbi called out the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso.
“I appeal to politicians across all political parties, including the APC, PDP, Labour Party, Accord Party, and others to cooperate with whoever is steering the country’s affairs, most especially in the fight against insecurity,” the traditional ruler said. “No nation in the world has ever won insecurity without the support and cooperation of its stakeholders, including the opposition leaders. I look forward to seeing when the former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi of the Obedient movement, and Kwankwaso of the Kwankwasiyya affiliation will visit to sympathise with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and offer meaningful solutions capable of nipping insecurity in the bud.”
Turning his attention to regional security, the Iwo monarch issued a stern warning to criminal syndicates operating within the Southwest region. Drawing on historical context, Oba Akanbi reminded perpetrators that external aggressions against Yorubaland have traditionally failed, referencing historical military checks in Osogbo.
He declared that kidnapping and banditry cannot find a permanent foothold in the region, urging the perpetrators of the Oriire abduction to “retreat, repent, or vacate Yorubaland.” He assured that the Yoruba people would continue to provide critical local intelligence to state security apparatuses to smoke out criminal elements from their hideouts.
Furthermore, Oba Akanbi cautioned Nigerians against the dangerous trend of ethnic profiling in the wake of security breaches, insisting that criminality knows no tribe.
“Crime knows no race. No tribe or ethnic group should be stereotyped as kidnappers. We have good Yorubas, Fulanis, and Ibos just like we have bad Yorubas, Fulanis, and Ibos as well,” the monarch noted, urging stakeholders to preserve national unity while hunting down actual criminals.
