February 14 , 2021 | EASTERN PILOT Report By: Adejumo Kabir And Olusola Adesuyan "They did not come with their cattle for grazing...
February 14 , 2021 | EASTERN PILOT
Report By: Adejumo Kabir And Olusola Adesuyan
"They did not come with their cattle for grazing. They just stormed the village, killed people, and destroyed a lot of property. Three houses were set ablaze and one commercial bus."
A group of youth in Ogun State has issued a seven-day quit notice to cattle herders in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state. The notice followed the recent clash with suspected herdsmen in which three people were killed. Sources told PREMIUM TIMES that some herdsmen on Friday night stormed Igbooro, Oja-Odan in the Yewa-North Local Government area of Ogun, to unleash an attack on residents. They allegedly shot indiscriminately into the air and set some houses ablaze. The incident, according to witnesses, led to the death of three people while two others reportedly sustained gun injuries.
Speaking about the attack on the village to journalists, the community leader (Baale) of Igbooro, Abidemi Akorede, said: “some Fulani herdsmen invaded our village last night. As they arrived, they set ablaze some houses and started shooting sporadically, they macheted a child to death where he hid,” he was quoted by Punch Newspaper. “They hacked a mother and her child to death. I have counted three corpses, two have been rushed to the hospital, they are in critical condition after they were shot.
“They did not come with their cattle for grazing. They just stormed the village, killed people, and destroyed a lot of property. Three houses were set ablaze and one commercial bus. Silos were also burnt with the grains”, he said. The state police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident said “our men have been deployed to the place and are investigating the cause of the incident.” The latest incident occurred barely 24 hours after five persons were killed in Owode Ketu in the same state where a series of kidnap and killings have been recorded in the past few months.
Quit notice
In response to the security challenges, some youths under the banner of Yewa North Patriotic Forum (YNPF), in a statement by their president, Sanni Omobolaji, have issued a quit notice to Fulani herdsmen. “We also use this medium to give a seven-day ultimatum within which all killer herdsmen must vacate our local government or face the full anger of grieving people,” part of the statement read. “If this ultimatum is taken with levity, we shall stop at nothing in ensuring that all unknown Fulanis are flushed out of our local government at the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum.
“We are fully ready to take our destiny in our own hands and not wait till the Fulanis successfully wipe off all our promising children and caring parents. “Now is the best time to dissolve the marriage of inconvenience between our people in Yewa North Local Government and the killer Fulani herdsmen as we can not condone these criminals beyond seven days in our domain.”
Not the first time
PREMIUM TIMES reported how Sunday Adeyemo known as Sunday Igboho in January visited Ogun State to evict herdsmen. The state government, however, distanced itself, from his activities. Mr Igboho earlier led some youths in Ibarapa local government area of Oyo State to evict Salihu Abdukadir, leader of the Fulani group in Igangan over the killings and abductions in the area. Under the nation’s laws, Nigerians are free to live in any part of the country.
In Another incident,Fulani militia herders have attacked and killed two Amotekun Corps at Ago Sanusi along Ute Road in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government area of Ondo State. The leader of the Amotekun corps is also missing in the attack carried out by the herdsmen on Thursday night. It was gathered that the herdsmen had laid ambush for the Amotekun men who after receiving a tip off from some farmers went into the forest reserve on the trail of some criminal elements in the area. Recalled that the men of the Amotekun Corps had few days ago apprehended 15 persons for allegedly being involved in illegal mining in the area.
SOURCE
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