Ibadan—THE fragile peace between herdsmen and farmers at Igbeti, Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State was ruptured, Wednesday, as one of the herdsmen hacked a farmer, Musiliu Aliu, to death in his farm.
However, the leader of the Fulani in the area said the deceased was befriending the wife of the herdsman. The Chairman, Igbeti Community, Alhaji Alawode Jimoh Fasina, who disclosed that the incident happened Wednesday evening, said: “We had warned him not to allow the Fulani man in his farm because there is no way his cows would not destroy his crops.
“They were together until we heard yesterday (Wednesday) that the Fulani man had hacked our man and fled.” He said the dead farmer had preserved some yam seedlings for planting at the appropriate time. But the herdsman’s cows ate some, leading to a quarrel.
It was gathered that the herdsman alleged that some of his cows were stooling, suspecting the late farmer of poisoning them. He added that “our man (the farmer) said he would go and report the Fulani man to the police. But he quickly made a detour to his farm to plant the remaining seedlings. It was while doing that that the herdsman killed him.
Fasina revealed that other farmers, who were waiting for their colleague so they can proceed to the police station, became apprehensive when they did not see him and “traced to him to his farm, where they met his corpse.
The Fulani man quickly ran away after the killing. Fulani leader reacts Meanwhile, the leader of Fulani herdsmen in the area, Alhaji Saliu Kadiri, who is the National Chairman, Jamu Nati Fulbe Association of Nigeria, gave a different account of what triggered the fight between the herdsman and the late farmer.
Speaking with Vanguard in a telephone interview, he said: “My representative at Igbeti told me that the farmer was flirting with the wife of the Fulani man. When the wife goes out in the morning, she would not return until very late. “She does not obey her husband any more just because she was befriending the farmer.
Our man warned the farmer but he did not stop. “Instead of our man to follow due process for the amicable resolution of the crisis, he reacted in that condemnable manner. “That is not good. We have condemned the action he took. The policemen had a meeting with us here yesterday (Wednesday) and they told us to go and produce the man.”
CP speaks The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abiodun Odude, confirmed the death of one person, noting that peace had returned to the place. He said: “A Yoruba farmer allegedly put poison on his crops and the herdsman’s cattle ate them and died. The owner was annoyed and organised to kill the farmer. “I was there.
There is calm in the area now and we are making efforts to get the man and we will get him.”
Source – Vanguard
