Chrys
Some Yoruba Nation agitators, on
Sunday morning, seized Radio Nigeria, Amuludun FM 99.1 in Ibadan, the Oyo State
capital, taking over broadcast for more than one hour.
A source disclosed that the
agitators, who besieged the station around 5:40 am in an 18-seater bus, were
armed with dangerous weapons and charms, threatening to deal decisively with
any staff member who refused to cooperate with them.
However, four out of the
agitators, among whom was a woman, were arrested by the police with the
assistance of the Nigerian army, while others ran into different directions to
evade arrest.
One of the arrested agitators,
who sustained gunshot wounds, had rushed into the studio to tell others that
security operatives had taken over the nooks and crannies of the station. The
blood stain was seen in the studio.
An investigation by our
correspondent revealed that after holding some night duty staff and security
guards hostage, the agitators hijacked the studio and announced live on radio
“Welcome to Yoruba Nation.”
An impeccable source further said
they continued threatening staff members to remove all Nigeria flags in the
station and replace them with Yoruba Nation flags as they have already taken
over the Government Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
It was further learnt that they
initially hijacked some commercial vehicles (Micra) to block the main road.
When our correspondent visited
the station at J&P Bus-stop, Moniya in Akinyele Local Government Area of
the state, more than 20 operational vehicles of security agents, including
Department of State Services were sighted at strategic locations to forestall
any eventuality.
Confirming the invasion, the most
senior staff on duty, Ajayi Omotola, stated that, “They told us that they are
Yoruba Nation agitators. And in their T-shirt, there was that inscription
there. They wrote Yoruba Nation. Only six persons came inside the studio with
different charms threatening to kill us if we failed to cooperate. Others were
outside manning security at different areas within the premises.
“They collected all our phones
and threatened to kill us if we made any noise or phone calls. They said they
wanted to broadcast live that Yoruba Nation has taken over. We should remove
all Nigeria flags in our studio and replace it with their own. They didn’t
allow anybody to go outside. The Area Commander came, addressed and even
pleaded with them but they ignored him. We later heard sporadic shooting
outside. So, one of our staff members then came inside to inform us that police
and soldiers had arrived,” Omotola stressed.
As of press time, normalcy had
returned while stern-looking security operatives were still manning the
station.
The radio station was established
on October 10, 2007, and commenced transmission in pure and undiluted Yoruba
language on October 22, the same year.
