Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has warned that there could be
reprisal attacks on Fulani herdsmen in the State if they do not desist
from invading communities in Ekiti and attacking the people,
describing the Fulani herdsmen that invaded Oke Ako in Ikole local
government area of the State on Friday, killing two residents of the
town and injuring others as “agents of the devil that must be fished
out and punished accordingly.”
Governor Fayose, who commiserated with the people of Oke-Ako,
especially the family of the deceased, vowed to do everything humanly
possible to forestall the reoccurrence of such attack and safeguard
the lives of Ekiti people.
According to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said the
Fulani herdsmen were becoming major threat to the unity of Nigeria and
its people, saying; “I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen
invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands
at will as they have done in other States.
“I have directed the police and other security agencies in the State
to fish out the killer herdsmen. I am in constant touch with the
security agencies and I hope that the killer herdsmen will be fished
out wherever they are and made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain calm while the security
agents do their job. However, the security agents must be mindful of
the fact that the people’s patience has a limit and they must
therefore act promptly and decisively.”
The governor, who described activities of the Fulani Herdsmen as
inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country said; “Farmlands
costing billions of naira have been destroyed in States in the
South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country. One
wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the
farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of
their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is
not doing anything about it.”
He said; “I am sounding a note of warning to the Fulani herdsmen and
those who can talk to them should also do so now. If they continue
with these wanton attacks, killing of the people and destruction of
farmlands in Ekiti, I cannot guarantee that there won’t be reprisal
attacks.
“I can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal attacks can get
to because as a governor, it is my responsibility to defend and
protect my people.”
He called on President Mohammadu Buhari to stop paying lips service to
the Fulani herdsmen's menace, saying "as patron of the Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), President Buhari has
the capacity to call the herdsmen to order.
“President Buhari should therefore call his people to order because
this is Ekiti; our people have the rights to defend themselves.
“Most importantly, President Buhari must be reminded of how he was so
concerned about the killing of Fulani herdsmen in in Saki, Oke Ogun
Area of Oyo State such that he, as a private citizen led Arewa to
Ibadan on October 13, 2000, to confront the then Governor of Oyo
State, late Alhaji Lam Adesina.”
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