The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) has advised all the residents in the South West of Nigeria to take the threat of “more imminent attacks” by the Boko Haram very seriously, and be vigilant, warning that any attack on any of the states will amount to a declaration of war.
In a statement on Tuesday, the national chairman of the group, Olawale Oshun, asked residents to report any suspicious movement of men and materials that come to their notice to security agencies, monarchs, traditional leaders and the offices of the governors.
In a latest video released to AFP, the Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the bomb blast and Nyanya Motor Park on April 14 and also made a categorical statement about their resolve to carry out more attacks.
“We are in your city and you don’t know where we are,” the purported leader of the terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, said in the video, threatening “more imminent attacks” across Nigeria.
The bomb attack left 75 persons dead with over 120 injured.
‘Declaration Of War’
The ARG said the alert was for traditional institutions, from the highly revered monarchs to the village heads and the clan heads and that it was aimed at also reminding them of their responsibility towards their subjects in this dire time.
“All the leaders of our people at every level would have no reason, through acts of omission or commission, to allow total strangers over-run their domains. The time for the traditional institutions to become active and responsive as the guardian of our values is now.
“The kings and village heads should be ready to accept responsibility for any security failure in their domain, and we dare say that being urban should be no excuse,” the statement read.
The group further warned that a terror attack on the states would amount to a ‘declaration of war’ on the peace loving people of Yorubaland, in as much as the Yoruba people have always been peaceful and are not, whether directly or indirectly, complicit in the collapse of development and security which have been labelled as responsible for the rise of terrorism.
“We need to add that the Yoruba people will neither fold their arms if attacked and will be forced to respond in whatever shape or form deemed fit,” the group stressed.