Sahara Reporters
The evicted Seriki Fulani of Oyo State, Saliu Abdulkadir, has denied media reports that he was behind the fresh attack on the Igangan community of Ibarapa north local government area of the state.
Abdulkadir, who was evicted from the area about four months ago, condemned the attacks on Igangan and tasked the security agencies to do their job in arresting the perpetrators of the attacks, Leadership reports.
His denial was in reaction to the comment by the Asigangan of Igangan, Oba Lasisi Adeoye, who accused him of masterminding the recent attack on Igangan where suspected herders killed no fewer than 10 residents.
According to the Seriki, many herders also suffered casualties during the attack stating that a Fulani man who was neither a cattle rearer nor trader and who has been living in Igangan since the 1960s was killed on Monday in a reprisal on several Fulani settlements.
The Seriki stressed that he has no hand in the attacks and has no mercenary anywhere to attack the people on his behalf.
He said since he was evicted from the community by armed youths led by Sunday Igboho, he has lost many of his people, properties and all his investments.
The evicted Seriki who is currently in Ilorin, Kwara State, blamed the attack on the failure of security agencies, saying if the security agencies had been proactive and working, such would not have occurred.
Abdulkadir, however, tasked them to go after the perpetrators, insisting that the unrest in Ibarapa was worsened by ethnic profiling where only Fulani herders were tagged as criminals.
He said on many occasions, Yoruba people were arrested for kidnapping and other criminalities in the Ibarapa zone but their arrests never got prominence because they are not Fulani.
He said since his eviction in January, Fulani herders have been living in fear in the communities in Ibarapa including Aiyete, Tapa and Igangan, adding that he has advised those who are afraid to flee for their lives to refrain from taking the law into their hands.
The Seriki called on the Federal Government to intervene in the happenings in the Ibarapa zone, saying while the state government was doing its part to restore peace to the warring communities, there was the need for the federal government to provide support to achieve lasting peace in the area.
This Story First Appeared At The Sahara Reporters
