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A Yoruba socio-political group, the Yoruba Revolutionary Movement (YOREM), has condemned any form of U.S. military intervention in Nigeria and warned against what it describes as internal extremist colonisation of Yorubaland.
The group also called on all Yoruba people, at home and abroad, to rise in defence of their ancestral lands.
In the statement, Comrade Wale Balogun, National Coordinator of YOREM and Convener of Mekunnu Koya, said the group remains “firmly opposed to any form of U.S. invasion or foreign military occupation”.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened possible military action after redesignating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
Trump warned he might send U.S. forces “guns-a-blazing” into Nigeria to protect Christians from alleged genocide.
“While the incessant and senseless killings across Nigeria are deeply alarming, we reject imperialist intervention, especially from global powers whose historical actions and covert interests have fueled the crises we face, including the proliferation of sophisticated weapons among violent actors,” Balogun said.
The statement highlighted long-standing threats posed by terrorist Fulani herdsmen and extremist jihadist networks, whose goals include imposing a hardline Islamic ideology and encroaching upon Yoruba lands.
YOREM also criticised what it described as certain Yoruba collaborators who “for personal or political gain, have aligned themselves with forces bringing devastation to our land.”
Balogun referenced historical examples of resistance, including the Fulani capture of Ilorin and the subsequent 19th-century expansionist campaigns, which were eventually halted at Osogbo in 1840. “History is now presenting familiar patterns,” the statement read.
Addressing self-proclaimed self-determination activists and youths waiting for external saviours, Balogun said: “Liberation will not come from passivity or wishful thinking. Responsibility, unity, courage, and vigilance are required to safeguard incoming generation’s future.”
The statement urged genuine Yoruba self-determination activists to unite in defending Yorubaland.
“Aare Ona Kakanfo, Oloye Gani Adams, should lead decisively without waiting for politicians who have repeatedly failed their duties. The OPC must remain committed to its founding ideals and protect our communities lawfully and in coordinated frameworks,” Balogun said.
The group also called on the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG), Professor Banji Akintoye, Sunday Adeyemo Igboho, the World Yoruba Congress/Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM), and the Yoruba Leadership Forum to take decisive action against internal colonisers.
“It is not enough to inspire hope for liberation from internal colonisers only to remain passive at decisive moments,” Balogun stated.
YOREM renewed its long-standing call for the convening of a Pan-Yoruba Constituents Assembly (PYCA) to articulate a blueprint for Yoruba autonomy within a genuinely restructured Federal Union, or, if necessary, declare a sovereign Oodua Republic.
Balogun urged Obas (Yoruba kings) to establish local vigilante groups, lawmakers to support state police creation, and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Lagos State government to equip Amotekun as a legitimate security force.
The statement further stressed the need to end all killings in Yorubaland, communal, sectarian, fratricidal, or cult-related, and to protect Yoruba culture, traditions, and heritage.
Balogun also warned that Nigeria’s secular principles have been undermined by successive governments promoting religious favouritism.
“All hands must be on deck. U.S. intervention may appear attractive to some as a temporary solution, but history shows that foreign powers’ intervention brings consequences far worse than our current challenges,” the statement said.
