The Cable
Tajudeen Omideyi, a food and cash crop farmer in Igangan area of Ibarapa, Oyo state, said he lost his brother to a minor dispute with herders on his cashew farm.
According to him, his brother found some Fulani women on the farm harvesting cashew seeds and chased them away. A day after the incident, he was attacked on the farm, tied to a cashew tree and beheaded.
He said the death of his brother did not extract any remorse or emotion from his attackers when the matter was reported to their leader, Seriki Saliu. Omideyi said rather than being shown sympathy for losing a brother, the assailants planned to murder him for raising his voice at them.
He said: “Seriki Saliu was a lord in Igangan before Igboho (Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader) came to chase him out. His men killed my brother. They tied him to a cashew tree on his farm and cut his head. Nothing was done to his killers.
“I was lucky to be alive after being attacked by Fulani herdsmen. It happened five years ago. Later that year, I was in my farm when one herder called Aliu led his colleagues to attack me with cutlasses.
“When they could not overpower me, they used clubs to beat me. The fight lasted more than one hour. Aliyu is a cousin to the dreaded Seriki Saliu who was chased away by Igboho. When I reported to the police, Aliu was arrested but Seriki paid for their bail and scuttled police investigation.”
The allegations from farmers and residents of Igangan and other towns in Ibarapa were similar when TheCable visited the area.
Igangan, Eruwa, Aiyete, Tapa, Idere, Igbo-Ora and Lanlate are the seven towns in Ibarapa land, Oyo state. With a population in the excess of 700,000, the seven towns have about 120 villages that are predominantly occupied by the Yoruba, and with a mixed population of people from other ethnic extractions.
Ibarapa land is reputable for being fertile; enough to be known as an area that has produced more twins than any other place in Nigeria. Traditionally, the indigenes also savour the productivity of their vast land. They practice agriculture, growing abundant food and cash crops that are exported to other south-west states.
In over 40 years, Ibarapa people had lived happily with their visitors who are majorly herders from the north. The herders, having found peace in the land of their host took advantage of the 2,496 square kilometers of geographical land size in the area to rear cattle. Over the years, both groups had benefitted from the mutual existence, with inter-marriages and businesses partnership thriving among them.
But the oasis, under which their peaceful coexistence thrived, seemed to have withered, with both groups now sworn enemies.
When TheCable visited the area, residents lamented destruction of farmlands, kidnapping and rape, accusing the herders of perpetrating the crimes.
During the visit, TheCable understood that there are two sets of the Fulani who live in Ibarapa area. There are some who live in the towns among the people and engage in other line of businesses apart from cattle rearing.
This set of Fulani people rent or build houses on purchased lands in the heart of each of the towns and they also negotiate lands on lease for farming. Having lived there for many years, they speak fluent Yoruba. Some of the residents who spoke to TheCable said the Fulani that live among them are peaceful people.
The other set of the Fulani are majorly the core herders who live in settlements on the edge of the forest. They have principals who employ them as shepherds of their cattle and they come to town occasionally to buy essential needs. They are also seen regularly at cattle market, locally known as kara, on market days.
Residents said they are largely unknown since they are rarely seen in public and sometimes unfriendly. They are also accused of going around the forest with dangerous weapons, especially AK-47 rifles. Residents alleged that the herders lead cattle to graze on farmland and confronting farmers with the intent to injure or kill.
Investigation by TheCable revealed that those who employ the herders are heads of Fulani communities in Ibarapa. They also live in compact settlements located on the edges of the towns. Two of the notable ones are Seriki Saliu Abdulkadri and Iskilu Wakili.
While Saliu lived in Igangan for about 40 years, 70-year-old Wakili claimed to have been in Ibarapa for more than 30 years. Residents who have interacted with the two men alleged that trouble began some years ago when herders from outside Nigeria, especially Mali, were recruited by the leaders, taking advantage of Nigeria’s porous immigration system.
IGBOHO AND EXPULSION
After reported series of clashes between herders and farmers, raping and kidnapping, Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader popularly known as Sunday Igboho, issued a seven-day eviction notice to herders in Ibarapa, blaming them for insecurity in Oyo state.
Seriki Saliu had to flee his abode in Alagolo area of Igangan before the expiration of the ultimatum, relocating first to Kwara state. During a news conference in Ilorin, he denied allegations of any link with kidnappers, claiming that his property, worth, N500 million, were destroyed during an attack by Igboho’s men on his house. He also claimed that seven people were killed during the attack.
On his own part, Wakili was expelled from his settlement in Kajola, by a team of security men led by Oodua Peoples Congress. He was taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Ibadan after his arrest. However, those who arrested him were picked up by the police and later released.
Wakili was later charged for kidnapping and murder and remanded in prison custody in Ibadan, while the OPC members who arrested him were arraigned for murder, arson and belonging to unlawful association.
IGANGAN MONARCH THREATENED
TheCable was told that before Igboho’s coming, some youths of the town had threatened to burn the palace of Oba Lasisi Adeoye, the traditional ruler of Igangan, accusing him of trading the peace of the town for personal gains from leaders of the Fulani community.
Abiodun Adegoke, a farmer and a youth leader in the town, told TheCable that the youths also threatened to evict the local government chairman in the area.
He said: “We once accused the king of Igangan of trading his own people for what he was getting from the herders. We wanted to burn his palace because we were angry. We also told the chairman of our local government to leave the seat if he could not administer rule over herders.”
But when TheCable confronted the king of Igangan with his peoples’ allegation that he was a friend of Seriki Saliu and that people of the town had the notion that he did not use his relationship with him to curb herders’ menace, he said on several occasions, he complained to Seriki Saliu on behalf of farmers when their farms were destroyed.
“I know Seriki very well. He has been here for about 40 years before he became Seriki Fulani of the whole of Ibarapa north. In fact, I met him here,” said the king.
“Each time my people brought complaints to my palace, I would call Seriki and report to him that his people were destroying farms and attacking my people. Sometimes, he would react positively, in other times, such matter would go to court but our people always return losers despite being wronged. It shows that the justice system is biased.”
SERIKI NO LONGER WELCOME
The king said he was happy that the Fulani leader left Igangan, saying he would never be welcome to the town again.
“Seriki has not called me to state that he is returning to Ibarapa one day, but if he plans to return here, I will not welcome him. Some of his people might be agitating for his return, but never will he be allowed to come back here.”
The monarch also debunked Saliu’s allegation that his property was destroyed with seven persons killed.
He added: “We thank God that there was no violence during his exit. He left peacefully. Igboho is our savior in the hands of Seriki and the herders. He told Seriki to leave and he complied.
The king said before Igboho stormed Igangan to issue eviction notice to Seriki and herdsmen, he visited his palace to seek permission from him before approaching the herders. He said Igboho assured him that the process of eviction would not involve violence.
MONARCH’S SON ARRESTED, IMPRISONED
According to the king, his son was wrongly accused, arrested and put in police custody. After his release, he was kidnapped and only regained freedom after N4 million ransom was paid.
He said: “After herders’ cattle ate up my son’s farm, he was arrested and locked up by police in Ibadan. When I approached Seriki Sasa, he instructed the SSS to release him.
“Some of the herders have spent 40 years in Igangan and Ibarapa area. But when the bad ones mixed with them, we started experiencing kidnapping. They have left town now but they hang around kara (cattle market) after they were asked to go.”
But despite the expulsion of Seriki Saliu, there are still pockets of clashes between farmers and some herders.
“It was not Seriki alone that left. Many of them have gone. But we are surprised that there is still record of attacks and destruction of farm lands in the town. It shows how criminal minded some of them are,” the king said.
WHAT I TOLD MAKINDE IN SECRET
As part of his effort to stem cases of crisis in the area, Seyi Makinde, the Oyo state governor, visited the king in his palace. During TheCable’s visit to the palace, the king revealed what he discussed with the governor in secret.
He said: “As the king of Igangan, I spoke to governor Makinde in secret before coming to the public when he visited this town.
“I told him that we do not like the way we were being oppressed by a particular ethnic group in Igangan. It has lasted over seven years. We had in the past notified other governors before Makinde. The governor said he would alert the federal government on our plight and do the right thing.”
