Reports that Oodua Peoples Congress members were involved in the incident that broke out in Ojota, Lagos, on Monday have been denied by Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land.
Adams said that the Ojota rally was unexpected in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, and that none of his members were involved in the conflict.
“Let me clear the air on the crisis that had engulfed Ojota this morning. There were unconfirmed reports linking members of the OPC to the mayhem. I want to state it clearly that none of our members were at the scene of the incident.
“The OPC is not against the liberation of the Yoruba race, however, it is a fact that the struggle for the liberation of the Yoruba race is an inalienable right of all the Yorubas to champion self-determination. We are not part of the peaceful rally held in Ojota.
“Our position on regionalism is very clear. It is sacrosanct because that is what we are seeking at the moment.
“Nigeria should be restructured to full regional autonomy, where each region will be at liberty to operate at their own pace.
“It is unfortunate that the report was done in bad faith to discredit our organisation.
“So members of the public should not be deceived by unconfirmed reports.
“Information at my disposal from the visual contents of happenings in Ojota indicated a peaceful rally that later went awry, leaving in its wake a bitter experience that led to the death of one of the Yoruba nation agitators.
“It is unfortunate that such a crisis could lead to such fracas that eventually claimed one life,” he said.
