As insecurity rises in Yorubaland, many question the deployment of Yoruba mystical powers

That mystical power that the Yoruba claim to have, now is the time to use it. The Yoruba nation is in present danger, as someone somewhere wants their territory to fall into the hands of alien marauders, determined to subdue them.

This is more telling because no one is sure if Gani Adams of Oodua People’s Congress and Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, and Sunday “Igboho” Adeyemo, who once singlehandedly disarmed a guard in the home of a Seriki Fulani that he had asked to leave Ibarapa in Oyo State, can really help the Yoruba in the face of rampaging terrorists.

Though Igboho began to wear the halo of a man with mystical powers after disarming the armed guard, he, however, fled when President Muhammadu Buhari’s security forces invaded his residence in Soka, Ibadan, Oyo State, with sophisticated modern weapons.

A friend says that he is not too sure that the coat-of-charms that Igboho wore at rallies in Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states of the Southwest in 2012, is really an armour against terrorists’ weaponry. He thinks that the road show may have just been a boastful showboating.

It is more than underwhelming that both Adams and Igboho are asking for the permission of the governors and kings of Yorubaland before they can confront the terrorists, instead of simply going ahead to get the job done.

After all, there is no way that the government or the courts of law can link them to whatever damage they may do to the terrorists, because there will be no material evidence to link them to the actions that may lead to the death, unconsciousness or broken limbs that the terrorists may suffer.

If these gentlemen, or anyone else, do not have any mystical powers to deploy in combating the invading terrorist forces, they should stop posturing and deceiving the public; they would have performed the eighth wonder of the world if the government had permitted them. They need no one’s permission.

By the way, Muslim and Christian clerics have steered clear and given wide birth to claims of any mystical powers and have offered prayers instead. The clerics of the Abrahamic religions are wise people who do not want to be embarrassed after making false claims.

Terrorists have now intruded into the peace of the Southwest, first with the bombing assault at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, and are now moving more westerly toward Lagos, the economic nerve centre of Nigeria.

Also, they have kidnapped a principal, teachers and students in Oriire Local Government Area, and the younger sister of Bayo Adelabu, former Minister of Power, and her twin boys, right inside Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State. They were later rescued by security agents.

With all these happening and the possibility of more happening without the government security agencies being able to swiftly rescue the abducted victims and neutralise their abductors, one wonders why these two strongmen, and others like them, cannot deploy their mystical powers, if they have any.

One often hears about a Yoruba charm, usually hung on the doorpost of a shop, that can put thieves in a trance and cause them to start to sweep the floor until the shop-owner arrives in the morning to set them free from the trance.

A video is going viral online, showing some young men carrying an AK-47. They have been turned into zombies by the incantations of the Oluode, head of the hunters, in Oka Akoko, Ondo State. Maybe the Yoruba Empire is finally striking back!

Have those kinds of powers disappeared from Yorubaland, or are they just myths, spread to give a false sense of invincibility to the Yoruba? This is the time for the devotees and practitioners of Yoruba “Isese” to stand up and be counted or forever hold their peace.

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Someone has suggested that maybe the mystical powers of the Yoruba cannot stand in the face of the bombs, sub-machine guns and automatic rifles that the terrorists are using to carry out their dastardly terrorist acts.

That now gives a lie to claims that the Agbekoya Movement, led by Tafa Adeoye and headquartered in Akanran, insisted that they would not pay any extortionate tax imposed by the government of former Western Nigerian military Governor, Col Adeyinka Adebayo, indeed had the prowess of raising soldiers from corn, as they reportedly did.

Legend has it that it was Obafemi Awolowo, the Federal Commissioner for Finance of the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who went into the bush to try and persuade the Agbekoya, who were said to have the ability to turn corn into soldiers, to accept the peace offering of the government.

Why is Amotekun Corps, initiated by late Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu after cattle herdsmen continuously attacked farmers and their farms, and birthed with the speculation that it would deploy mystical powers, appear to be whining and complaining that they have no modern weapons to fight? The corps is increasingly cutting the image of a fangless tiger.

Indeed, the Amotekun Corps has not made any spectacular saves, apart from unimpressive reports of arrests of petty criminals that it occasionally turns over to the federal security agencies that have been accused of freeing the criminals, as the Amotekun operatives turn their backs.

If the government will not allow Amotekun Corps to use modern weapons to combat the terrorists, why not use the weapons that the Yoruba claimed were used by their forefathers? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, an expert in the use of modern weapons, once admonished Africans to use mystical weapons to fight modern wars.

It is disturbing that after the yet-to-be-resolved attacks in Oyo State, the governors of South-West states have not deemed it fit to visit and rally round Governor Seyi Makinde, offer him words of encouragement and announce a joint approach to solving the problem. They are busy with 2027 politicking.

Surprisingly too, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, or DAWN Commission, whose mission is to drive the integration and sustainable development, and coordinate law, order, safety and security efforts of Southwest Nigeria, is inexplicably quiet.

Why aren’t Yoruba kings turning their “Osugbo”, or “Ogboni”, cults on the terrorists, if they indeed have any mystical powers? This time of present danger to the Yoruba race is most appropriate for them to display their prowess. If those powers have expired, they should just let their people know.

And yes, it is time for Yoruba kings, most of whom are almost permanently found on the “owambe” social circuit, to gather themselves together to formulate a regional security initiative based on their joint cultural, military and spiritual heritage.

Each time there is an attack by cattle herdsmen, bandits, kidnappers and terrorists in Southwest Nigeria, it looks as if the entire region is bereft of strategic plans to combat the menace. After a little prattle, both the formal and informal leadership of the Southwest go into audio silence.

They seem not to have taken a cue from the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, Ogbagba II, who stood up and spoke truth to the nearly demonic Gen. Sani Abacha regime. Who will bell the cat amongst them remains to be seen.

X:@lekansote1, lekansote.com