Agbekoya declares war against criminal herdsmen

*Don't harbour strangers, Oba Owode warns subjects

*Act now to avert civil war, Soyinka tells Buhari

THE Agbekoya Farmers' Association and the Yoruba Socio-Political organisation Afenifere, have begun a manhunt for killer herdsmen's kingpin, known as Mahmoud Waziri, and his men, who terrorised farmers and residents in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Agbekoya raised an alarm that criminal herdsmen have launched guerrilla warfare on Yorubaland, but vowed to flush out the culpable herdsmen terrorizing the South-West.

Similarly, the Olu of Oba Eerin in Obafemi/Owode Council area of Ogun State, Oba Ganiyu Sanyaolu warned people of the area against harbouring strangers especially, herders looking for a place of abode, following their forceful ejection from Ibarapa.

Also, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to act fast in putting a check to the activities of herdsmen to avert another civil war.

Criminal herdsmen have launched guerrilla warfare on Yoruba land — Agbekoya  

Agbekoya, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olatunji Bandele, stated that the President-General of the association, Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola, stated that after the exit of Seriki Fulani from Igangan, another kingpin, Mahmoud Waziri, emerged in the town with his men, unleashing terror on innocent citizens and killing  farmers in the area.

Chief Okikiola said two farmers, who were working on their farms, were killed in two locations in the area during an ambush laid on them by the killer herdsmen, while some escaped to the town to alert the people of the community. The statement read: “The Kingpin, Mahmoud, regrouped the killer herdsmen and bandits, armed them with dangerous weapons to retaliate the exit of Seriki Fulani from Igangan who is now living in a village in Kwara State. Though the kingpin is now on the run, his killer herdsmen are perpetrating havoc, killing farmers and innocent citizens in Ibarapa area of Oyo State. Agbekoya will not relent until all these Fulani criminals terrorizing Yoruba land are flushed out.” The farmers’ body, however, called on farmers in the South-West to avoid going to their farms alone, but “should make sure that they go to their farms in groups ready to counter any sudden attack by the Fulani bandits and killer herdsmen.

“The killer herdsmen have launched guerrilla warfare on Yoruba land and we should be alert and be very strategic in dislodging them wherever they are located in the South-West. We are using this medium to call on other security stakeholders, traditional rulers, Southwest governors, politicians and Yoruba leaders to rise to face the insecurity situation in the region. We are also calling on the Northern governors and leaders to take positive steps in calling the killer herdsmen and Fulani bandits terrorizing Southwest to order because if the situation persists, Agbekoya will not hesitate to launch a full-scale war against herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits”, Agbekoya president said.

War looming –Afenifere

Speaking on the development, the Publicity Secretary of foremost Pan Yoruba group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, explained that the persistent attacks by the marauding herdsmen on the region were a clear indication that the region was at war.   

Odumakin said: “The adamant and persistent attacks by herdsmen on Yorubaland are clearly a grand war on the Yoruba nation, and it's only the ostriches that would bury their heads in the sand at the moment. War is at our door.”

Don't harbour strangers, Ogun monarch cautions subjects

Similarly, the Olu of Oba-Eerin in Obafemi/Owode Council Area of Ogun State, Oba Ganiyu Adegun Sanyaolu warned people of the area against harbouring strangers especially, herders looking for a place of abode, following their ejection from Ibarapa.

Oba Sanyaolu said the call became necessary, following a viral video alleging that some herdsmen, who were forcibly sent away at Ibarapa in Oyo State, have started erecting structures in the agrarian town.

Oba Sanyaolu stated that the viral video has created palpable fears in the minds of residents and visitors of the town.

It was gathered that some herders were seen along the roads leading to Oba town, the community that hosts the new Abeokuta Correctional facility and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic.

It was also gathered that some of them have already erected structures and cleared bushes around the major roads leading to the town.

Some residents of Oba and Alagada, who spoke with pressmen said the presence of the herders was noticed some days ago when they saw tractors clearing some farmlands around Alagada village, about 200 meters to the new Abeokuta Correctional facility, adding that within three days, about 20 huts, typical of Fulani abodes have started springing up.

Oba Sanyaolu, while speaking with some journalists in his palace, said some youths have already gone to the herders, accosted them and shared the video clip of their encounters to the people, thereby creating tension in the minds of the people.

The monarch said: “To avert any crisis that may erupt thereafter, I have called some people that I know who facilitated the coming of these herders to a meeting where I instructed them to do the needful thing."

On his part, the Apena of Oba, Chief Rasheed Sobowale said, "though, we have not had any attack from them, but a stitch in time saves nine.

Sometimes in the evening, you will see their cattle taking over roads leading to the town, travellers would have to wait several minutes before they were allowed to pass".

He alleged that a member of Alagada village, Alhaji Sulaimon Salisu, popularly known as Alagada was responsible for the settlement of these Fulani herders in the area.

In his own reaction, Salisu denied ever inviting any herders from Ibarapa to Oba area of Ogun state, clarifying that those with him are herders who had already residing in Owowo before they came to settle in Oba.

He therefore assured the monarch and inhabitants of Oba town that he will sell off all his cattle and send the herders back to where they came from.

“Your Majesty, based on the controversy that this issue has generated, and in order to allay the fear of our people, I will sell all my cows and send these people away”, he said.

Act now to avert civil war, Soyinka tells Buhari

NOBEL Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to act fast in putting a check to the activities of herdsmen to avert another civil war.

He also said the President’s silence on what he described as the illegal activities of herders across the country showed he was complicit.

Efforts to get the Presidency’s reaction proved abortive, as calls made to the spokesmen were unreplied.  Text messages also sent to their phones were not replied. Soyinka, who made the call in an interview on BBC Pidgin, said he wondered why the President  had failed to address the nation, especially as the buck stops at his desk. 

He said the current situation across the country, particularly in the Southwest, might develop into a civil war. “What do they expect of us now that the war is on our doorstep? Of course, there will be mobilisation and if we keep waiting for this to be centrally handled, we are all going to become, if not already slaves in our land. That to me is personally intolerable. It is not an acceptable condition.

“Whatever it takes, I stand ready to contribute in any way and I have made my governor understand this, that we are here not just to live in but to live in dignity. Right now, our dignity is being rubbished. My forest is being taken over, it’s been shrinking, my normal hunting ground is shrinking. My family tells me that if I go in depth again, they will have me institutionalised.” Soyinka said the first solution to the recurring menace was for Buhari to address the nation on the level of insecurity and the way forward.

He noted that the President should say openly “that yes, I know I am the patron of the cattle rearers association etc., and I am a cattle rancher myself and it is a business. And I do not run my business by killing people. 

‘’I do not run my business by raping, by displacing, by torturing. I do not run my business by occupying land that does not belong to me and I am warning all business people in the food commodity, all cattle reared, whatever comes to you for illegal occupation for trespassing on other people’s property is your business and I am ordering the army, I am ordering all the security forces to back citizens’ efforts in flushing you out.”

Soyinka said he expected nothing else at this stage from President Buhari than the statement he suggested.

“It is very late already but it is not too late. This is a language that we expect from President Buhari and as much as that language does not come, I must consider him as quite complicit in what is going on because the buck stops at his desk.

“We may enter a phase of serious skirmishes which get more and more violent and may develop into civil war and a very untidy mercy one. That’s my biggest fear. 

"Unless action is taken… I am very glad that the governors are coming together and are discussing in all seriousness. I’m happy they are pulling in groups like Miyetti Allah, obviously knocking some sense into the head of their leaders and they are talking about accepting the decision of governors and agreeing to obey.”

Asked whether he is in support of the action of a Yoruba warlord, Sunday Igboho, he said: “We’ve never met, I hope people will always report things properly. I saw a byline of one media report that Wole Soyinka calls Igboho a hero, I never made any such thing. Sunday Igboho has responded to the situation in the way he knew. Now you will see that he’s trying to work with others. Somebody one day reaches an explosion point and he says I cannot take this any longer and he takes unilateral action. It may be excessive, it may be wrong but what matters is that somebody has responded to an unacceptable situation. 

"Any error which he makes is for the rest of us to correct by calling him and I know that a number of people are doing that.”

Many states in Nigeria, and their residents, have lamented the activities of armed herdsmen who not only graze their cattle on people’s farms but also engage in criminality like kidnap and murder.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State recently issued an ultimatum to herders in Ondo forests to leave because the forests were being used as bases for criminal activities.

Also, a Yoruba warlord, Sunday Adeyemo, led residents of Igangan in Ibarapa area of Oyo State to evict Fulani leaders in the area after giving them an ultimatum. He accused them of harbouring the Fulani herders who perpetrate criminality in the area. Mr Igboho also led a similar action in Ogun State.

As the tension escalated, the six governors in South-West states met with leaders of Miyetti Allah cattle rearers where they reached an agreement to ban open grazing, child grazing and ensure criminals among the herders are identified and punished according to the law.