More facts have continued to emerge on why Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho issued a quit notice to and supervised the eviction of Fulani people from Igangan community in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The Aribiyan II of Igangan, Oba Abdulazeez Adeoye, said that violent herdsmen have for long orchestrated the raping, kidnapping and killing of residents of the area.
However, he debunked reports that Igboho burnt the residence of Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadri, the Seriki Fulani in the community.
Oba Adeoye, who spoke with reporters on Saturday, said, “The people of Igangan rose against the incursion of killer herdsmen in our community considering our experiences over the years. It has been incidents of killing, maiming, kidnapping for money and raping. It has got to an unbearable level so we asked that they should excuse us.
“As we speak, the three Kara cattle markets in my domain have been shut down. Majority of them engage in illicit acts. Strangers infiltrated our midst to kidnap our people for money. They raped our women and also destroyed our farmlands with cattle. We have asked the herdsmen to leave our midst because they don’t have an iota of respect for human lives. They killed our people, they stole and drove our farmers from the farm.”
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The monarch insisted that Igboho’s visit to the community was a peaceful one that was celebrated by residents.
“Sunday Igboho and his men came to the town. The youths welcomed them and he addressed them using words of assurance but he never caused trouble and did not attack anybody. I did not know or hear of it (destruction of Seriki Fulani’s property) until Saturday morning. We can’t tell the particular person who did it.
“As of now (Saturday), I have not got the details of how it happened but I can tell you that it was not Igboho and his people because there was no such incident during his visit. We implore the government and the security agents to come to our aid. We cannot secure ourselves against the bandits, so we call for tighter security of our community. We should not be abandoned to our fate. The killer herders are out of control. Rather than seek Igboho’s arrest they should dialogue to know what went wrong, what my people are facing and consider possible solutions,” Oba Adeoye said.
Meanwhile, the Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and traditional rulers in the state have scheduled a joint visit to Igangan today to deliberate on how to restore normalcy to the community and Ibarapaland in general.
Deputy Chairman, Oyo State Council of Obas, Oba Francis Alao disclosed this on Saturday in an interaction with reporters.