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Tag: Herdsmen

  • Fulani herdsmen: Ooni warns Sunday Igboho after visit to Buhari in Aso Villa

    Fulani herdsmen: Ooni warns Sunday Igboho after visit to Buhari in Aso Villa

    Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has advised Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, not to take laws into his hands but allow constituted authorities to handle the herdsmen menace.

    The monarch also warned Sunday Igboho to watch out for politicians seeking to hijack his agitations against killer herdsmen in the region.

    This is coming after the first class monarch met with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors in the Villa on Tuesday.

    The prominent Yoruba monarch visited Aso Rock, amid heated ethnic tension in Ondo and some parts in Oyo state, generated by the recent locals-Fulani herders’ confrontation.

    Speaking with the press after the meeting, According to Ooni of Ife, the purpose of his visit is connected with the simmering ethnic tension in some parts of the South West region.

    He said it’s part of the duties of traditional rulers that everything is right, all and sundry of the country are in good shape.

    “The take-home here is that Mr. President has assured it’s not going to be a political thing. We all know the problem all over the country because we have a lot of bad eggs that have mixed across the entire country, and we are having that situation again in the South West.

    “So I am here as the co-chairman of the national council of traditional rulers to get the assurance of Mr. President that either of the party won’t turn to a political party fun fair in order not to risk the lives of our people, not only in the south-west but the entire country.

    “I am happy he has told me that I should assure other traditional rulers to work with them now so that we can separate the good, the bad, and the ugly,” he added.

    However, in another interview with Arise TV, the traditional ruler praised Igboho for taking on the campaign against herdsmen but advised him to allow constituted authorities to handle the menace.

    The Ooni said Igboho has done very well, but he should back down so that government can take over the battles to avoid politicians hijacking the movement.

    The monarch said: “Let us be very objective. He (Igboho) is being a mouthpiece for the downtrodden. He came up and everybody is listening now but my advice to him as a traditional ruler is that he needs to be very careful so that the politicians won’t hijack the whole motive from him.

    “He has done well and we’ve already praised him but he shouldn’t take laws into his hands. We have the governor there, he is the chief security officer of the state and Mr President has invited him (Makinde). Let the right people that are being authorised to do what is right do it.

    “He (Igboho) has done well and the world has heard him but everything should be done in moderation.”

    He added: “We know that the bandits are everywhere. He shouldn’t take laws into his hands. We have laws in this country, and we should follow it. Let the right people chosen either our leader, let them follow what they are supposed to do.

    He has done well, and we should leave it like that,” he said.

    Speaking on the role of traditional rulers and other Yoruba leaders such as Aare Ona Kakanfo;

    “Well, we cannot compare then and now, in the holding day, Yoruba have a dynasty, we have structure and by virtue of that, that is the structure that gave birth to Aare Ona Kakanfo.

  • No influx of herdsmen into Ekiti forests – Police

    No influx of herdsmen into Ekiti forests – Police

    The Police Command in Ekiti State on Wednesday said there was no influx of herdsmen into forests in the state from Ondo State forest reserves as being reported in the media.

    The command disclosed this in a statement signed in Ado-Ekiti by Mr Sunday Abutu, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Tunde Mobayo.

    The statement said the command had neither sighted nor received any report of herders migrating or relocating into any part of the state or its forests.

    It, therefore, called on the residents to disregard the report as fake and fictitious.

    According to the statement, the story was just a mere imagination of the source.

    It cautioned newsmen against fake and unverified publications capable of causing apprehension in the state, saying such would no longer be tolerated

    The statement also implored members of the public to always verify the source and authenticity of every piece of information they receive via the social media.

    The command, while assuring the people of adequate protection of lives and property, urged them to remain calm and vigilant.

  • Herdsmen menace: Buhari, Makinde meet behind closed doors in Abuja [Photos]

    Herdsmen menace: Buhari, Makinde meet behind closed doors in Abuja [Photos]

    Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde was at the State House, Abuja on Wednesday on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Buhari receives Makinde in Abuja. With them is Prof. Ibrahim Gambari

    Buhari receives Makinde in Abuja. With them is Prof. Ibrahim Gambari

    The president received the governor, with his Chief of Staff Prof. Ibrahim Gambari present, in a ‘closed door’ meeting.

    The meeting might not be unconnected with the ultimatum issued Fulani herdsmen in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area to quit.

    Makinde with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Prof. Gambari in Abuja

    Makinde with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Prof. Gambari in Abuja

    The ultimatum was issued by Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho. The quit notice generated heated tension in the land.

  • Don’t exit Fulani herdsmen with brute force- Ozekhome, Keyamo tell Akeredolu SAN

    Don’t exit Fulani herdsmen with brute force- Ozekhome, Keyamo tell Akeredolu SAN

    Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome and Festus Keyamo, have said it will be wrong to use brute force to exit the Fulani herdsmen from Ondo State.

     

    “I believed it should have been done through a court order; not through brute force,” Ozekhome said.

    “Though there are criminal issues regarding some herdsmen in the country,” Keyamo stated.

     

    Adding: “Most Nigerians do not know that their so-called ethnic ‘leaders’ are deliberately putting an ethnic spin to these issues.”

     

    Keyamo, who is the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, opined that some leaders want to use it as an opportunity to vent their personal political frustration on the system.”

    herders to desist from taking their cows to people’s farms for grazing

    According to Ozekhome, a Constitutional lawyer, “We must build a country of strong institutions, not strong men.”

    Ozekhome he noted that it was strong institutions that made America defeated their former President, Donald Trump.

    Ozekhome maintained that it is a court of law that can sift the chaff from the seeds.

     

    “I do not agree with the tarring of a whole race or occupation with the besmearing paintbrush of criminality,” he posited.

    Meanwhile Fulani Herders across the Southwest are not to carry out both night and underaged grazing with immediate effect.

    This was contained in a directive issued by the National President of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Muhammadu Kiruwa.

    Alhaji Kiruwa also warned herders to desist from taking their cows to people’s farms for grazing.

  • JUST IN: No eviction order to herdsmen in Ondo, other South West states – Governors Forum

    JUST IN: No eviction order to herdsmen in Ondo, other South West states – Governors Forum

    The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has said that there was no eviction order to herdsmen in Ondo State or any part of the South West region.

    It said the speech of Ondo Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, was misconstrued in the media and was only directed at government reserve including registration.

    Chairman of NGF and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, spoke in Akure at a meeting with the national leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).

    Fayemi noted that the statement generated a lot of hoopla which led to what he described as unfortunate development in Oyo State.

    He said Akeredolu didn’t talk about herdsmen vacating the state but about registration of herdsmen who want to operate within the reserves.

    The Ekiti Governor said they are after criminals and not fulani herdsmen.

  • Sunday Igboho shuns Makinde, insists on herdsmen’s exit from Oyo communities

    Sunday Igboho shuns Makinde, insists on herdsmen’s exit from Oyo communities

    Chief Sunday Adeyemo, an agitator for Oodua Republic, better known as Sunday Igboho, on Friday visited Igangan, a town in the Ibarapa North Local Government area of Oyo State, insisting that Fulani people must leave Yorubaland.

    Recall Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has warned against actions that could incite peace in the state, saying that no individual or group has the right to initiate forceful eviction of the Fulanis from Oyo State.

    Igboho had last week visited a Fulani settlement in Igangan, where he gave them a seven-day ultimatum to leave the area.

    He accused the Fulani community in the area of masterminding abductions, killings, and other criminal activities in the area.

    Video:

    But on Friday, Igboho did not fight the Fulani residents of the state as speculated on social media, but he insisted that Fulani people should leave the state, and the entire Yorubaland if kidnapping continues.

    He said, “Fulani cannot take over our land from us. We own our land and we won’t allow anybody to take it from us. Some people are intimidating us but we won’t succumb to their threat. For the Fulani living here, we are not fighting them, if they can live with us peacefully. Our fear is about Fulani taking over our land, kidnapping and killing our people.

    “We will evict them from our land if they insist on kidnapping our people. I am assuring Yoruba people, especially the residents of Oyo State that there is no cause for alarm. What we started today does not only have to do with Oyo State; we are going to evict Fulani people in the entire Yorubaland.”

  • Presidency, Akeredolu trade words over order seeking herders to vacate Ondo’s forests

    Presidency, Akeredolu trade words over order seeking herders to vacate Ondo’s forests

    The Presidency on Tuesday cautioned Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu on his plans to eject herdsmen from the state government forest reserves.

    Recall that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu gave a seven days ultimatum to herders to comply with an order seeking that vacate Ondo’s frests and also banned under-aged grazing, night grazing, movement of cattle within the cities and highways.

    However, the Secretary General of the Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Usman Baba-Ngelzerma, had reacted that the association had not been formally informed.

    But in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President called for restraint on the side of the state government and the Fulani communities.

    In the statement titled, ‘In tackling crime, Ondo State Government will not act outside the constitution,’ the Presidency also called on both sides to continue their dialogue.

    The statement reads partly, “Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, a seasoned lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and indeed, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, has fought crime in his state with passion and commitment, greater sensitivity and compassion for the four years he has run its affairs and, in our view, will be the least expected to unilaterally oust thousands of herders who have lived all their lives in the state on account of the infiltration of the forests by criminals.

    “If this were to be the case, rights groups will be right in expressing worries that the action could set off a chain of events which the makers of our constitution foresaw and tried to guard against.

    “We want to make it clear that kidnapping, banditry and rustling are crimes, no matter the motive or who is involved. But, to define crime from the nameplates, as a number of commentators have erroneously done- which group they belong to, the language they speak, their geographical location or their faith is atavistic and cruel.

    “We need to delink terrorism and crimes from ethnicity, geographical origins and religion—to isolate the criminals who use this interchange of arguments to hinder law enforcement efforts as the only way to deal effectively with them.

    “The President, who swore to defend the constitution has spoken against the Indigenous People of Biafra in asking citizens of Northern origin to leave; he did not spare the group based in Sokoto, ‘Muslim Solidarity Forum,’ which asked the Bishop of Sokoto to leave and is prepared to do all that the law permits to protect citizens all over the country in their choice of where they wished to reside and are treated as equal citizens.”

    In a swift reaction, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, said the Presidency statement had stated “unambiguously, the position of the Federal Government.

    “The Ondo State Government did not ask Fulani to leave the state. The governor said herdsmen who are unregistered should leave our forests. The statement from Garba Shehu is brazen display of emotional attachments and it’s very inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria. We need clearly defined actions on the part of the Federal Government to decimate the erroneous impression that the inspiration of these criminal elements masquerading as herdsmen is that of power. Our unity is threatened, no doubt.

    “It (statement) states in a breath that the governor fights crime with passion while it is prevaricating on the atrocities. The question is, are the herdsmen who are perpetrating murder, kidnapping and robbery more important than government and even the Federal Government in this case? Ethnic nationality and activism on the part of anyone hiding under the Presidency or federal government is an ill wind,” the commissioner added.

    Earlier, Ojogo had declared that there was no going back on its order asking herdsmen to vacate all the forest reserves in the state.

    Ojogo had said, “The governor’s directive except they are telling the world that Miyetti Allah is above every law in the land.

    In the same vein, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matter, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, said, “I want to advise those operating within the forest legally to register with the state government. The truth is that if they (herdsmen) still want to remain in the forest; let them come and register, we want to know the people occupying our forest.”

  • 3 Killed, 2 injured as Amotekun operatives, herdsmen clash

    3 Killed, 2 injured as Amotekun operatives, herdsmen clash

    No fewer than three persons were reported murdered and two others injured on Saturday during a clash between the Oyo State Amotekun operatives and some Fulani herdsmen.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Amotekun operatives and herdsmen engaged in a clash at Aiyete in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state.

    The clash was said to have started at Okebi village on Saturday morning but the cause of the clash could not be immediately ascertained immediately.

    The Police Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, CSP Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident on Saturday in a text message sent to NAN in Ibadan.

    Fadeyi said that three persons lost their lives while two others were injured.

    “When the DPO of Ayete got wind of the incident, he moved in swiftly to ascertain the cause of the attack.

    “In his report, three persons has died and two injured. He has since commenced investigation and further development will unfold shortly,” the police spokesman said.

  • Herdsmen attack Benue community

    Herdsmen attack Benue community

    Suspected herdsmen have attacked Okokolo community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.

    Four herdsmen suspected to have carried out the attack have been arrested and transferred to the Benue State Police Command Headquarters in Makurdi, the state capital.

    The Chairman of Agatu Local Government Area Adoyi Suleiman confirmed the incident during a security and stakeholders’ meeting in Agatu.

    One of the victims whose hand was cut off during the attack has been taken to an undisclosed hospital where he and is receiving treatment.

     

  • Five Atyap men arrested over killing of herdsman in Zangon Kataf

    Five Atyap men arrested over killing of herdsman in Zangon Kataf

     

    Five men in Matyei Village, Atyap Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State have been arrested over the killing of a Fulani Herdsman, Ado Hassan.

    State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan, made this known in a statement on Monday.

    According to Mr Aruwan,
    “….. military under the auspices of Operation Thunder Strike, had informed Kaduna State Government of the killing of a herder while grazing in Matyei village, Atyap Chiefdom of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area….”

    He said that “….troops responded to a report of a farm destroyed in the village on Sunday afternoon, and arrived at the scene and discovered that a herder, one Ado Hassan, had been shot dead by unknown persons…”

    The five persons arrested are

    1. David Kure
    2. Peter Adamu
    3. Bulus Duniya
    4. Matthew Peter and
    5. Yohanna Chawai

    The statement explained that the arrested suspects are undergoing preliminary investigation.

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed dismay at the killing and sent condolences to the family of the herder, while praying for the repose of his soul.

    He urged citizens to eschew jungle justice and embrace recourse to the law in the face of any incursion or offence, and further tasked security agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the killing.