Bring Attackers of Igangan to Book, Yoruba Group Urges FG

The Yoruba Leadership and Peace Initiative (TYLPI) has called on the federal government to take immediate steps to identify and bring to justice, those behind Sunday’s killing of no fewer than 20 persons in Igangan community in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State.

Unknown gunmen had in the early hours of that day raided the community and killed the defenceless people while torching scores of houses including the palace of the traditional ruler.

In a statement signed by its Director of Publicity and Media Affairs, Mr. Tunde Ipinmisho, TYLPI expressed dismay that more than 24 hours after the incident, the federal government had not issued a statement to either acknowledge or condemn the dastardly act.

Describing Sunday’s incident as a new low in the undeclared war against the nation by those hiding under the cover of darkness to do evil, the group blamed the continued killings by such persons across the country on the absence of robust consequences for lawlessness.

TYLPI which condemned the wanton killing of defenceless citizens who were sleeping in their homes in the dead of the night, warned that the inaction of the authorities could lead to reprisals and repeated circles of violence in the country.

It said the latest killings were another evidence of the nation’s gradual slide into anarchy since 2015 and appealed to those who still have some political clout to leverage it to encourage the authorities to live up to their responsibilities especially regarding the basic protection of life and property.

According to the group, the voices of reason and caution in the country were becoming untenable and were being gradually drowned by those of disintegration in the face of the continued massacre of innocent people and the seeming lack of interest by the federal authorities.

TYLPI said the Igangan killings were another evidence of the nation’s progressive descent into anarchy since 2015, adding that the carnage fell into the same pattern with the gory killings experienced in Benue, Plateau and Taraba States as well as in the southern part of Kaduna State. It warned that such bloodletting across the country suggested a virtual abdication of responsibility by the government.

The group also decried the continued decline in the respect for the sanctity of life in the country adding that such respect was the hallmark of a civilised society.