The recent invasion of Asa village, in the Oja Odan area of Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State by assailants suspected to be Fulani herdsmen has sparked tension in the state.
According to Vanguard, The invasion reportedly resulted in the
death of a mother of three, Mrs Ayesi Balogun, who was allegedly raped and
killed by some suspected Fulani
herdsmen.
The suspected Fulani marauders were said to have killed the woman
after being raped in her farm.
This revelation was made by Ketu Advancement Front.
The Coordinator and Secretary of the group, Kunle Abiose and
Joseph Bankole respectively, in a statement, said a
petition on the matter had been sent to
security agencies in the state.
They insisted that the Fulani herdsmen gang-raped and killed
Mrs. Balogun.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the mother of three was
attacked in her farm after she ran into the suspected Fulani herdsmen.
According to the Ketu spokespersons, Balogun’s case brought to 25 the number of
people who had been sent to their early graves by the herdsmen.
“The latest in the ceaseless murder cases had been reported
at the Oja-Odan Police Station”, they added.
Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer,
Olumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed that the corpse of Balogun was found in the bush,
adding that it had not been established that she was killed by Fulani herdsmen.
He argued that it might be a reprisal killing by the Fulani
herdsmen.
“A few days ago, the corpse of a Fulani man was found in the
bush in the same axis,” Adejobi stated.
In protest against the killings by the suspected Fulani
herdsmen, some leaders of Ketu, Ojan Odan, besieged the state Police
Headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.
The police authorities, however, held a closed-door meeting
with the leaders of the communities and Fulani herdsmen in the area.
Sunday Vanguard spoke with one of the leaders of the
communities who pleaded anonymity explaining what transpired at the meeting.
“On getting to the meeting, the police asked us to find a
way of resolving the issues between us,
and that there should be no problem again”, the community leader stated.
“We are not the problem, the Fulanis have been the problem and
these things that are causing much of the trouble happen from Benin Republic, a stone throw to our place.
“Whenever these people die on Nigeria soil, the Fulanis
would kill Nigerians, saying we are the ones responsible for the deaths and the
police would arrest the Yoruba there.
“An undertaking was brought out to be signed between the
Yoruba and the Fulani, the undertaking was read out to us all, the Yoruba who
didn’t sign were forced to sign.
“They said those who
didn’t want to sign would instigate others against the Fulani, so they were
forced to sign. Those who signed were to be held responsible for any problem
between the Fulani and the Yoruba”. When asked about the identity of those
present, he said: “The Seriki of Iguaa, Usman Ibrahim, Alhaji Ibrahim Oro,
Alhaji Usman Danjau, Seriki Atokun and other Serikis that I do not know were
there while the Chairman and Secretary of our local government headed the
Yoruba team.
“I am not satisfied with that arrangement because it is the
duty of government to provide security for us as citizens because we do not
have guns.
“Last year, the state government gave us a memorandum of
understanding with a 24-man committee to
discuss how we were to get grazing route and all other things that would make it work, but the
committee is just there without logistics to work”.
Sunday Vanguard spoke to some victims who claimed to have
escaped by the whiskers.
One Ephraim Alamu Elegbede, while lamenting his ordeal in
the hands of the suspected Fulani herdsmen, said: “In our area, the Fulani are
trouble makers. They will come to kill the people even though we have no water
to drink because of them, they destroy our crops.
“Our students can’t go to school anymore; the schools have
closed because of the Fulani.
“We want government to come and send these people away from
our area because we own the place, we are farmers in the area. Should these
Fulani chase us out, where do we go?
“We never killed any of the Fulani. The Fulani died while
coming from Benin Republic and they are avenging the death on us.
“The Fulani killed about four of our people last year in
Igbonla via Ijoun. Trouble started in a church during service where the Fulani
came in to kill a man and his son”.
Another victim, Tunde Aregbede, said, “I am a farmer, aged
25. The Fulani tied one person and I together and forced us to drink and eat
the excreta of their cows at gun point saying that if we did not do as they
ordered, they would kill us. They were fully armed with guns.
“Their cows ate our crops and we went there to complain
about the development at Igara but they said we were bold to confront them
after our goats had eaten their crops too”.
Another victim, Aregbede Taye, 24, from Ogunbayetoro,
narrated how he was captured and escaped from the suspected Fulani marauders.
He said: “One person and I were tied together by the Fulani.
After we had been tied, we never knew they could free us; we were expecting
death, but we were freed.
“They would cut down our banana for their goats.
“On Sunday, February 8, people sat to discuss how to settle
the problem between the two communities
but the Fulanis chased away the wives of the baales from their homes.
That night, they burnt twelve houses in Igbonla community.
“We reported to the police at Iguaa. They promised to help
us in the situation, but we are yet to see any improvement.”
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