Sunday Igboho storms Ibarapa against Fulani bandits

 POPULAR Yoruba rights activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has said that excesses of Fulani herdsmen in Oyo State, particularly in the Ibarapa zone, have been checked.

He asked criminal elements among the herdsmen in other states of the South-West to get ready for onslaughts.

Adeyemo stated this on Friday while addressing a crowd in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, where he had gone in company of a group of people to chase Fulani herdsmen believed to be the brains behind kidnappings and killings in the area.

The video of the event went viral on social media on Friday. Following the security threat that the actions of Fulani herdsmen posed to Ibarapaland, Adeyemo had visited the leader of the Fulani in the area, Saliu Seriki, in his house at Igangan last week Friday to convey the grievances of Ibarapa residents over insecurity of lives and property in the area.

Fulani herdsmen in Igangan had been accused of being the perpetrators of incessant killings and kidnappings that have instilled fear in the people of the seven towns that make up Ibarapa zone in Oyo State.

Adeyemo, as shown in a viral video last Friday, had issued a seven-day ultimatum to Seriki and his people to vacate Igangan and the Ibarapa zone.

In the past one week, the ‘quit notice’ had been the topic of discussions in the state as the state government emphasised that no individual was constitutionally empowered to evict anyone from any part of the country.

The Fulani Nationalist Movement, in a statement signed by its West African Regional Coordinator, Baadu Salisu Ahmadu, said that no herdsmen would leave their respective settlements in Nigeria, adding that any attempt to evict them from the six South-West states would lead to war.

Ibarapa people, in the past days, had wondered if Adeyemo would visit Igangan as promised if the Fulani refused to leave Ibarapa community before the expiration of the ultimatum.

Making good his promise, Adeyemo arrived in a convoy on Friday in Igangan where kidnappings and killings are rampant.

Youths from all the towns in Ibarapa zone joined Sunday Igboho’s convoy in their hundreds with the motive of driving Fulani herdsmen away following their refusal to leave Igangan as demanded by Ibarapa people.

Meanwhile, shortly after Sunday Igboho left Igangan, the house of the Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, was allegedly set ablaze by aggrieved youths in the town.

The Public Relations Officer of Jamunatirube, Alhaji Mustafa Aliu, said the incident happened on Friday evening.

An aide to Chief Adeyemo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident happened after his principal had left Igangan.

“Sunday Igboho was there not to fight but to appeal to both sides and assure Yoruba residents that there won’t be problem,” he said.

When contacted, the Sarkin Fulani, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, confirmed the incident.

He said his house and all his vehicles had been set ablaze.

“As we speak, we are in the bush. Our cars numbering about 11 have been burnt. Some of my children sustained injuries and we are finding a way to take them to hospital.

“My children have left their houses for the bush. We need government to help us. Police, Operation Burst and other security agencies were there when they set my house ablaze,” he said.

Chairman of Miyetti Allah in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Jiji, described the incident as unfortunate, urging the government to find a lasting suction to the Fulani/farmers unrest in the state.

“As we usually say, not all Fulani’s are evil; good people are among us. What can we call this now? The man is a gentleman and see how he was chased out of his house. We need government to act now,” he said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Oluwagbeniga Fadeyi, when contacted, promised to investigate the report and get back to our correspondent.

He had yet to confirm the incident as of the time of this report.

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