A national leader of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Comrade Adesina Akinpelu, has revealed that the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, cannot single-handedly enhance the security of Yorubaland.
Comrade Akinpelu stated this in Ibadan on Monday while reacting to a call by the Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Akeem Abimbola Owoade I, urging Iba Gani Adams to enhance security in Yorubaland.
Alaafin Owoade charged the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland to commence wide-ranging consultations for local and traditional interventions with traditional rulers, community leaders, and key stakeholders to stem the wave of insecurity in Yorubaland.
In a statement by his director of culture and public relations, Ademola Adeniyi, the Alaafin said the initiative was aimed at establishing practical, community-driven support systems that would complement formal security structures, particularly in intelligence sharing and early warning mechanisms.
It will be recalled that gunmen, on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, attacked forest guards at Old Oyo National Park in Oloka, Oriire Local Government Area of the state, at about 11:30 p.m., killing five Nigerian Park Service officers in their office.
There were also reports of four farmers killed in Igboho, in the Oorelope Local Government Area of the state, while the abduction of a nursing mother and her child in Supare/Ajegunle in the Akoko South Local Government Area of Ondo State has heightened fear in some communities in the region.
But reacting to this on Monday, Comrade Akinpelu insisted that Iba Gani Adams cannot fight the battle with one hand tied behind his back, urging Oba Owoade to first ensure unity among the different factions of OPC.
“One tree cannot make a forest,” Akinpelu said, recalling that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi Adeyeye Ojaja, had long called for the harmonization of the four different factions of OPC in order to be better positioned to tackle the lingering insecurity in Yorubaland.
Akinpelu explained that while three factions of the Yoruba sociocultural group had agreed to embrace unity, only the Iba Gani Adams-led faction remains adamant.
He, therefore, called on the Alaafin Owoade to first put the Yoruba house in order by uniting the OPC for effective policing across Yorubaland.
Packaged by Adekunle Adegboyega
