A powerful coalition of Yoruba nationalist groups has launched a blistering attack on two of Northern Nigeria’s most prominent socio-political organizations, accusing them of covertly promoting violence, funding terrorism, and maintaining a “conspiracy of cruel silence” while Fulani militants unleash terror across the country.
The Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC), a coalition of Pan-Yoruba groups, in a statement accused the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) of being “mere Fulani fronts” whose primary agenda is to “bring down democracy and impose unaccountable, corrupt and dictatorial martial rule in line with Fulani heritage”.
The scathing indictment comes in response to statements issued Monday by the Northern groups condemning Yoruba Nation agitator Chief Sunday Adeyemo (alias Igboho) for “profiling Fulani”, a charge ONAC dismissed as hypocritical and diversionary.
‘Where Were Your Voices?’
ONAC Secretary General Adeola Babafemi and Assistant Publicity Secretary Tajudeen Goriola accused the Northern elders of selective outrage, asking why they suddenly “found their voices” after Igboho called for the release of a pregnant woman and her child kidnapped by suspected Fulani gunmen, but remained silent during numerous atrocities against Yoruba communities.
“Both NEF and ACF were silent, maintaining cold complicity when 160 mostly Yoruba people were killed in Kwara state by suspected Fulani terrorists; they kept quiet when four Yoruba traditional rulers were murdered in Yorubaland; went on sabbatical when 16 people were abducted at Eda Oniyo in Ekiti State; 46 people including children were kidnapped in Esiele in Oyo State, not to talk of the sacking of 33 Yoruba towns and villages in Kwara and Kogi States,” the statement read.
The coalition listed prominent traditional rulers killed in what they described as Fulani attacks, including Oba Israel Adegoke Adeusi of Ifon (Ondo State), Oba Salman Aweda of Olayinka (Kwara), Oba Kehinde Falodun of Agamo (Ondo), and in 2024, Oba Olatunde Samuel Olushola of Imojo-Ekiti and Oba David Babatunde Ogunsakin of Esun-Ekiti. They also noted that Oba Olusegun Aremu-Cole, a retired General, was murdered in his palace.
The group noted that all these murdered Obas are members of the National Council of Traditional Rulers led by the Sultan of Sokoto — “yet he neither condemned the killings nor issued condolence messages”.
‘Potential Terrorist Funders’
The statement went further, alleging that within NEF and ACF are “real or potential terrorist funders and sympathisers whose primary aim is to destabilise Nigeria and cause a state of war”.
“We are shocked that these organisations made up of reactionary forces and beneficiaries of the Nigerian rot can say that the action of Igboho would lead to anarchy,” ONAC declared. “In reality, the two organisations watch with excitement as Fulani unleash terror and anarchy on the rest of Nigerians, killing the young and old, stabbing pregnant women to extract their foetus, raping, invading farms and sacking villages in a savage desperation to impose their political culture on the rest of Nigerians”.
The group accused the Northern organizations of maintaining a “conspiracy of cruel silence” even during the alleged military coup attempt in October 2023 that sought to overthrow Nigeria’s democratically elected government.
By the Numbers: A Crisis Ignored
ONAC cited staggering statistics that they say the Northern elders refuse to acknowledge:
· Over 2 million people are currently in IDP camps in Benue State alone
· More than 50 communities have been sacked in Plateau State
· In 2015, the Global Terrorism Index ranked Armed Fulani militants as the 4th deadliest terrorist group in the world
International data backs the severity of the crisis. According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), between October 2019 and September 2024, 66,656 deaths were documented across Nigeria, of which 36,056 were civilians. The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) were responsible for a staggering 47% of all civilian killings — more than five times the combined death toll of Boko Haram and ISWAP, which together accounted for just 11% of civilian deaths.
The International Bar Association has also documented what it calls “a crisis hiding in plain sight,” noting that officially verified incident data indicates fatalities exceeding 19,000 since 1999, while the Middle Belt Forum asserts cumulative deaths between 2011 and 2023 surpass 50,000.
‘Who Sows the Wind Shall Reap the Whirlwind’
The coalition questioned how the Northern elders would respond if the tables were turned.
“What would be your responses if Igboho, or leaders of Pan Yoruba groups invade Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, kill the Emirs, rape their wives, sack many villages, occupy their land, kidnap and behead your people? Will you accept that?” ONAC asked.
ONAC warned that “NEF and ACF are working for the destruction of Nigeria” and that “these old people using their prime to promote anarchy and bloodletting” should remember that “those who sow the wind would reap the whirlwind”.
The group claimed that after ruling Nigeria for 46 out of 65 post-independence years, “the NEF and ACF are not content but prefer using terrorism as a political bargaining chip”.
According to the coalition, it is “a shame that Government officials who serve in the highest places including Ministers, Police, Customs and former Presidents from Fulani North end up in ACF and NEF, indicating they were in Federal service to protect Fulani interests”.
‘Real Threats to Nigeria’
“The real threats to Nigeria is not Igboho but rabidly corrupt, inept, reactionary, self-serving fundamentalist so-called elders who dominate NEF and ACF,” the statement concluded. “Two organisations set up for personal profit, primitive accumulation of wealth and for the defense of narrow agenda of Fulani”.
ONAC warned the Northern groups that “the tolerance of the South West should not be mistaken for foolishness”.
