The Ondo State Police Command on Tuesday said it had begun manhunt for the for the reported illegal herdsmen vigilante groups in the state.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Femi Joseph, said that following the report, the command had been on the lookout for the vigilante group.
He, however, said that policemen in various police divisions across the 18 local government areas of the state had been working with vigilante groups in various communities but not with Fulani herdsmen and that none of the members of the vigilante groups carried arms.
He said, “We know we are in the area that community policing is being emphasized. What we encouraged our DPOs (Divisional Police Officers) to do is to synergise with the host communities.
“Now that we have heard a story of Fulani vigilantes carrying arms and identity cards, the command has begun investigation into that. If anybody caught violating the rules, such persons will be brought to book.”
Pictures of a legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, and some suspected Fulani herdsmen, who mounted a roadblock in Ondo State, trended on the social media on Monday.
An identity card of one of the armed herdsmen, on the social media, indicated that they were members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and they belonged to the Ikare-Akoko branch of the association.
The logo of the vigilante group featured two guns while the code was MACBAN/NHQ/MSC.
When contacted, the Force headquarters on Tuesday said the commissioner of police, Ondo State Command, was well placed to handle the issue of the herdsmen vigilante group.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, who said this in an interview with one of our correspondents, asked the police commissioner to address the issue.
He was asked if the force headquarters was aware of the vigilante group and how it was responding to the matter.
Mba, a deputy commissioner of police, said being the one on ground in the state, the commissioner of police was in a better stead to address the issue.
He said, “The issue should be addressed by the state commissioner of police. He is empowered to do so.”
Meanwhile, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland and the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Chief Gani Adams, has said the OPC would not tolerate herdsmen vigilantes in Yorubaland.
“We will not accept the use of herdsmen either for private or public security in the region. We are not threatening. It is not our style. Any member of the OPC that threatens is not a genuine member. But we are saying this is our position on the matter.
“A Yoruba man cannot wake up in the North to do this. There is no single Yoruba in CJTF in Maiduguri, Borno State.’’
According to him, it is good that a chief under the Aare, Ajulo, who is the Mayegun of Aare Ona Kakanfo, made the discovery.
A faction of the OPC (New Era) also said the setting up of the Fulani vigilante group was an affront to the Yoruba race.
The National President of the group, Razak Arogundade, who spoke to one of our correspondents in Yoruba, said, “The Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife have both met the President over the rising insecurity in the country. South West governors have also held meetings. We are only awaiting the outcome of all the meetings.
“We want the President to know that the Yoruba are not cowards. We only make adequate preparations. We could spend seven years to prepare for a war of seven days. Our structures are intact and we are prepared: both the OPC and the Agbekoya are ready. Anytime from now, they will see our hands.”
The Secretary General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, otherwise known as Igbimo Agba Yoruba, Dr Kunle Olajide, has said the six South-West states as well as Kwara and Kogi states will soon have a common law banning nomadic cattle.
Olajide, who spoke to one of our correspondents in Ibadan, Oyo State, said, there was no grazing routes any longer in Yorubaland.
He said, “The presence of Fulani herdsmen in Ondo is bad and a dangerous signal that South-West indeed is not safe.
“It is totally unacceptable. Not even now that there is mistrust across ethnic nationalities.
“In the six South-West states as well as Kwara and Kogi states, we will jointly outlaw nomadic cattle breeding.”
When contacted, the Ogun State Government said it would not allow the establishment of herdsmen vigilantes in the state.
The government spoke through the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Kunle Somorin.
Somorin said, “It is not necessary in Ogun State. The system is sufficiently effective to cater for all, irrespective of place or circumstances of birth.
Also, in Ondo State, the Forum for Better Society asked the state police command to fish out armed Fulani men in the state.
The Coordinator of the FBS, Mr Hakeem Abimbola, who spoke with one of our correspondents on Tuesday, accused the police of shielding the illegal group. He said there was a need for the people of the South-West to watch out for unauthorised Fulani vigilante groups in their communities. – Punch.
