What Obasanjo Said About Killing Of Funke Olakunrin By ‘Herdsmen’

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President of Nigeria, says the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Chief Reuben Fasoranti, leader of Afenifere, by herdsmen is worrisome.

Yaahoo Journalist had reported earlier that the spokesman for Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, announced the death of the daughter of the Afenifere Chairman in a terse message sent to The PUNCH on Friday.

Odumakin said late Mrs. Olakunrin, a 58-year-old woman, was heading to Ore Junction from Akure, Ondo State when she was attacked and shot by the herdsmen.

The statement quoted the spokesman for Afenifere, to have said: “We have confirmed the death of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin (58), daughter of our leader, Chief Fasoranti.

“Eyewitness accounts say she died of gunshots from Fulani herdsmen who shot her at Ore junction in Ondo State earlier today.

“She was coming from Akure when the armed Fulani herdsmen came from the bush to attack her and other vehicles.

“Her domestic staff in the car with her also sustained gunshots.

“This is one death too many and a clear we-can-take-it-no-more death,” the statement by issued by Odumakin on Friday said.

Reacting to the killing in a commiseration letter to the Fasoranti family, Obasanjo bemoaned the incessant kidnap and killings by herdsmen in the country while calling the government and other stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the country’s increasing level of insecurity.

Obasanjo said, “I received, today, the tragic news of the death of your beloved daughter, Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, who was killed by some suspected Fulani herdsmen.

“This is a worrisome development in our polity, especially at a time when all well-meaning Nigerians are preaching tolerance and political accommodation in national politics. I must say Nigeria as a whole is diminished by the manner of Funke’s death.

“As you mourn the tragic loss of our very dear Funke, please be assured of the sympathy and profound sorrow of many others like me who are saddened by the manner of her demise, especially as she still had a lot to contribute to the nation and her family to which she was highly devoted.”

The ex-President called on all security agencies and government at all levels to leave no stone unturned in finding and prosecuting the killers.

“We deplore this dastardly act and seize this opportunity to call on governments at all levels to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that our security agents vigorously pursue and find the perpetrators of such heinous crime and make them face the full weight of the law.

“We must, together, find solution to all acts of insecurity in the country, particularly acts of banditry, kidnapping, robbery and killing by the suspected Fulani herdsmen.”