The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adans, has lamented that he does not have power like his predecessor.
His role is supposed to be that of a Generalissimo, who would face any war by invaders.
The likes of Are Latoosa of Ibadan did such.
But speaking on the destruction that killer herdsmen are unleashing on the South-West, Adams said on Thursday that he often got information about such attacks but he lacked the power to ward them off.
It was at the fourth edition of the South-West Security Stakeholders’ Group conference held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
According to him, victims from the region paid up to N3bn to kidnappers in the past two years.
He said, “As the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, I am privy to some certain information that certain security organisations do not have. When things happened in any community, they will call my line that Aare, what can you do?
“Unfortunately, I don’t have enough power to act like the olden days Aare, but I am doing my own bit as a person that has a liberation organisation.
“When you quantify the amount of ransom that has been paid in Oke-Ogun, Ibarapa, Ekiti, Akoko and Yewa, it is even more than N3 billion.
“When you quantify those people that were killed, maimed in all these jurisdictions, they are more than 400 people.
“There’s need for self-government or regionalism in the country where states governors would control the police and other security architectures of their states.
“In the North, the story is even worse; bandits have taken over the entire North-East, North-West and Central. In Kaduna for instance, about 500 schools have been shut indefinitely.”
