In the midst of growing tension, Sunday Adeyemo, the popular Yoruba activist widely known as Sunday Igboho, arrived in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Igboho, swarmed at the Igangan Town Hall by hundreds of youths, insists that Seriki, the leader of the Fulani, must leave the city over allegations that he is behind the insecurity in the region, Tajudeen Oke, a community resident, stated by the PUNCH. Some youngsters were said to have had bonfires on the streets prior to his arrival.
On Friday morning, there were reports of palpable tension in Igangan and other parts of the Ibarapa region of Oyo State as the notice of termination given to herdsmen in the area expires today. Igboho stormed the Fulani settlements in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area last Friday, frustrated by the incessant killings, kidnappings, and destruction of farms allegedly being carried out by herdsmen in Ibarapaland, and requested them to leave within seven days. In the field of masterminding abductions, killings, and other criminal activities in the region, Igboho accused the Fulani group.
Adeyemo, who spoke in the dialect of Yoruba, said that the apprehension of many Yoruba people was that other tribes would not take their land from them. He said, “The Fulanis are unable to take our land from us.” We own our land and we’re not going to let anyone take it from us. Some people scare us, but we’re not going to yield to their menace. We are not fighting them because of the Fulani living here, if they can live peacefully with us.
Our fear is that they will take over our country, capture and destroy our people. If they insist on kidnapping our people, we will force them out of our country. I assure Yoruba people, particularly Oyo residents, that there is no alarm path. This one we started today, we’re not just going to evict Fulani people in Oyo state, but in the whole Yoruba world.
The Oyo State Police Command, meanwhile, cautioned state residents against any act of lawlessness or violence in any part of the state. This warning was provided by the new State Police Commissioner, Ngozi Onadeko, in a statement issued on Thursday by the State Public Relations Officer of the Police, Mr Olugbenga Fadeyi.
When Igboho visited the venue, the police said four people were injured and the Fulani also allegedly waylaid farmers returning from their farms on the same Friday night and hacked four of them.
In a state broadcast on Wednesday, Governor Seyi Makinde denounced the attempt to expel the Fulani, while warning those behind the threat to desist or be prepared to face the wrath of the law. “They have an enemy in general. Mr. Makinde said, “That enemy is not the Hausa Fulani who is seeking pasture for his flock.” It’s not the farmer who only wants to grow food to sell or feed his family on the market. Hoodlums, cultists, armed robbers, kidnappers and bandits are our rivals.
These individuals live among us,’ he said. While recognizing that relations between herdsmen and farmers in the Oke-Ogun part of the state had deteriorated following recent clashes, the governor noted, however, that issuing ultimatums aimed at expelling foreign residents from the state was “not the way to advance the cause of Yoruba.” Mr. Makinde admonished the state police authorities to persevere in their efforts to ease tensions in Oke-Ogun and other troubled parts of the state, while reiterating the pledge of his administration to uphold every Nigerian’s constitutional right to live without fear in any part of the world.
The Oyo governor’s handling of ethnic violence in Oyo contrasts sharply with his counterpart in Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, who ordered the immediate evacuation of herdsmen from the forests of the state on Monday. Mr. Akeredolu, who traced the recent state killings and kidnappings to the activities of herdsmen, immediately prohibited the movement of cattle within the towns and highways of Ondo.
Governor Akeredolu’s order was quickly challenged by Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, noting that the Ondo chief executive was stripped of constitutional powers to issue such ultimatums.
However, Mr Akeredolu denied the criticism of the presidency, stating that Mr Buhari was emotionally attached to herdsmen in order to take a reasonable and balanced role in the national conversation. Both politicians are from the governing Congress of All Progressives, which has yet to take a strong stand on the crisis of herdsmen.
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