The Europe chapter of the O’odua Progressive Union (OPU) has again called for the unconditional release of three members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) that handed over the alleged territorial warlord in Ibarapa and alleged kidnapping kingpin, Iskilu Wakili, to the police in March this year.

The union made the call through its Coordinator, Chief Victor Adewale, who is also the Akingbayi Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Sunday.

The group restated that the OPC made positive intervention when kidnapping and killings were at an alarming rate in Ibarapaland and actually arrested Wakili and handed him over to the police in Igboora.

The detained OPC members are Awodele Adedigba, Dauda Kazeem and Hassan Ramon.

Adewale said “But the three persons that took Wakili to the police station were also arrested and detained by the police. The three OPC members as well as Wakili and some other persons arrested with him were transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, Ibadan. From there, they were taken to court.

According to him, the police levelled allegations of arson and murder against the three OPC members when they were taken to court but the truth of the matter is that if the OPC members are criminals, they would not have arrested Wakili alive and still take him to a police station.

The group maintained that it is still surprising that the police would charge the OPC members with arson and murder while the aim of OPC was to arrest Wakili, which was done.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, had also made a similar call for the release of the three OPC members. He particularly accused the police of supporting Fulani against the Yoruba over the arrest of Wakili.

According to Adams, Wakili had purportedly caused the death of some people in Ibarapa and that his men trailed him for one months before he could be arrested. He said Wakili’s Second-in-command was the first that was arrested.

He stated that the members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in conjunction with other local security operatives in Ibarapa effected Wakili’s arrest, saying, “the OPC handed over Wakili to the police. But the police, in turn, arrested the three OPC members that took him to the station.”

Adewale however, urged the southwest governors to provide a workable synergy that will help in curbing the influx of killer Fulani herdsmen across the southwest.

“On Monday, March 8, 2021, the police had released the three OPC members on bail. But on Monday, March 15, the police invited them, and they were promptly re-arrested on the same Monday. They were arraigned in court on Tuesday, March 16, and they were charged with conspiracy, arson, murder, willful destruction of property.