On 5 June 2022, Fulani Islamic jihadist terrorists attacked St Francis Roman Catholic Church in Owo, and killed over 80 innocent, unarmed worshippers, including children.
Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State responded like a coward. He capitulated to the Fulani. Akeredolu could not avenge the dead, and he could not even promise to defend the living. Akeredolu is a toothless Amotekun.
The Olowo, the Oba of Owo, responded like a coward. He capitulated to the Fulani. The Olowo could not lead his people in protests on the streets of Owo, and he could not advice his people on how to prevent future attacks by the Fulani barbarians. The Olowo is a toothless Amotekun.
Governor Akeredolu and the Olowo offered their people nothing. They did not just fold their arms like cowards, they also stopped their people from exercising the right to self-defence, which they are guaranteed under Nigeria’s laws. Governor Akeredolu and the Olowo told their people to wait to be slaughtered by Fulani savages. Pathetic.
Self-defence is a legal right under Nigeria’s laws. The Supreme Court in the case of Uwaekweghinya v State(2005) 9 NWLR held that ‘where a person kills another in defence of himself, such a killing is excused…’. According to Section 32(3) of the Criminal Code, a person is not criminally liable if he does something reasonably necessary to resist actual or imminent threat of unlawful violence. Section 286 of the Criminal code says that in the circumstances of ‘reasonable apprehension’, it is lawful to use any force that is necessary for defence. This is the right of preemptive strike held in the English case of R v Beckford (1968) AC 130. Section 60(a) of the Penal code gives a person the right to defend any person other than himself.
Self-defence is a constitutional right under the fraudulent 1999 constitution. That constitution regards the right to life as sacrosanct. Section 17(2)(b) says: ‘the sanctity of human life shall be recongnised’. Section 33 provides for right to life: ‘the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government’. It is clear from the Owo massacre, and others like it, that government is not capable of fulfilling that duty. Fortunately, the constitution provides for the alternative. According to Section 33 (2)(a), self-defence is lawful when undertaken in ‘defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property’, meaning anyone can do it. Indeed, the constitution does not allocate ‘policing’ or public safety as exclusive to the government.
Self-defence is a right that the Holy Bible gave to Christians. Genesis 9:6: ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’ The Bible does not countenance cowardice. Jesus by his example gave true believers the right to physically eject anyone who desecrates the House of God. Jesus said at Luke 22:36 ‘… if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one’. And when his disciples complained that they only had two swords between them, Jesus replied: ‘That’s enough!’ In other words, use whatever weapons you have immediately at your disposal. No excuses for inaction. Nehemiah 4:17: ‘Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon’.`
Going after the Fulani Islamic jihadist terrorists is not ‘taking the law into your own hands’. It is what the law expects you to do to save lives and property. The people of Owo are entitled by law to drive Fulani vagabonds, vagrants, and never-do-wells out of Ondo State. The people of Owo are currently prevented from doing so by their own Governor and traditional ruler. The people of Owo must ignore their Governor and traditional ruler and protect themselves. If war it is with those who finance and deploy the Fulani Islamic jihadist terrorists, so be it. Let them know that we Yoruba are coming after them and that we have never been defeated in any war with the Fulani.
We Yoruba halted Uthman Danfodio’s jihad. As Clapperton wrote in 1826: ‘After this the whole of Houssa, with Cubbe, Youri, and part of Nyffe, fell under their dominion. The whole of the interior, from east to west, was terror-struck. Bornou, in the east, was attacked with success, as was also Yourriba, in the west. Here they found more resistance than anywhere else, as they (the people of Yourriba) could not be made to believe in his doctrine or prophecy, as they were confirmed Kaffers, who, on the invasion of the Fellatas, put all the Mahometans to death, whether natives, or in caravans trafficking; quite denying the plea that God had given to the faithful their lands and houses, and their wives and children to be slaves’.We shall once again halt the Fulani putsch.