Attempt To Forcefully Evict Herdsmen In Oyo Community Leads To Violence

Violence broke out on Friday as a popular activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho stormed Igangan town to eject Fulani herdsmen from the community.

Igboho had given the Seriki Fulani , Salihu Abdukadir, a seven-day ultimatum to vacate the place or be ready to face the consequences.

Our correspondent gathered that the Seriki and family had fled the town before the arrival of the man who many have started calling the “Mesiah of Ibarapaland.”

Sources told our correspondent that Fulani had fled from their settlement and went to one area to gather in preparation for war while the youths were reportedly marched to the Fulani settlement after Igboho had addressed them,

Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde , has asked the police to arrest Igboho and treat him like a common criminal.

Igboho was said to have headed straight to the place where the Fulani fighters had gathered.

Sources told our correspondent that three persons were shot among those who followed Igboho. One was said to have died while two were injured .

Other sources said one woman was kiled among the Fulani.

Meanwhile, Govemnor Makinde
has given the police the order to arrest whoever was causing crisis in the state.

Makinde said this on Friday in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, when the new Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, paid him a courtesy visit.

Although the governor did not specifically mention any.name, Igboho had earlier on Friday  stormed Igangan following the expiration of the  eviction notice he gave to the Seriki Fulani and the herdsmen in the community .

The governor said, “For people stoking ethnic tension, they are criminals and once you get them, they should be arrested and treated like common criminals.

“For this administration, the major pillar for us is security, because we know that all the good economic plans we have  won’t be possible in an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity.

“So, when people say things that are neither  lawful nor within the spirit of Nigeria’s Constitution, it is not acceptable here. And they cannot hide under the guise of protecting Yoruba interest to perpetuate chaos in the state.

“I am sure that since you came in, you must have heard about some things happening at Ibarapa axis of the state. I will still say it here that we are not after Hausa-Fulani. We are after criminals.

“We are after hoodlums and bandits irrespective of their tribe, religion, or creed. Those are the people we are after. If you look into the records, when we had the armed robbery incident at Okeho in Kajola Local Government Area of the state, some people were killed, some were arrested and we found out that they were from Ebira, from Kogi State. So, we want to go after the criminals – whether they are Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani or whoever they are.”

The CP said the police would do everything to provide adequate security for every law abiding resident in the state. 

Onadeko said,  “We are here to formally tell you that we have resumed duty. As you can see, some of us are here. So, we came with the promise that we want to make the lives and property of the people of Oyo State safe and secure. We want the people to go to bed with their eyes closed.”

She equally noted that police officers had started the visibility policing in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

 She said policemen had returned to their duty posts and were poised to reduce crimes to the barest minimum level in the state.

“Since we came in, we have started with our visibility policing. When I came in, I noticed that there were no policemen on the roads, maybe it was still the aftermath of the #EndSARS issue, but we have been able to talk to them. We have asked them to occupy their space because it is their constitutional duty. We have to reduce crime to its barest minimum in Oyo State,” she added.