The Aribiyan II of Igangan, Oba Abdulazeez Adeoye, said on Saturday that the visit by the popular socio-cultural activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, was devoid of violence.
Adeoye stated this against reports that Igboho and his men torched the residence of Seriki Fulani in the area, Salihu Abdukadir.
This came just as the Oyo State Government said that a delegation including the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ngozi Onadeko, would conduct an on-the-spot assessment of Igangan community.
The monarch, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent 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.”
On the visit of Sunday Igboho to Igangan on Friday, the monarch said, “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.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the Oyo State Governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, said the new CP, Ngozi Onadeko, would lead the police delegation.
Adisa said, “They are to engage youths and calm frayed nerves. It is not clear as of press time who will lead the government team, but sources said that Governor Seyi Makinde has constituted a high powered delegation among his senior officials to embark on this trip. A full report of the Ibarapa situation will be made public by the government and the police after the assessment tour. Sources said that the team on the government side has been mandated to dissuade the stakeholders from unduly politicising the situation at hand or fuelling ethnic tension.” – Punch.
