…set for showdown with herdsmen
Following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum he gave to Fulani herdsmen in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, popular Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, and his supporters on Friday stormed the town apparently to enforce the quit order to the herders.
Tension had earlier, on Friday morning, gripped the town and other parts of Ibarapa area of Oyo State as the seven-day ultimatum given to the herdsmen in the area to leave expires.
Igboho and his supporters, it was learnt, were received by the hundreds of residents of the town, most of whom were youths, at the Igangan Town Hall.
As of the time of filing this report, the activist was said to be addressing the youths of the town and other supporters.
According to residents of the town, Igboho has insisted that that Sarki Fulani and the herders must leave the town, accusing him of being the mastermind of the kidnappings and killings in the area.
Some youths of the town, it was learnt, made bonfires on the streets before Igboho’s arrival.
Riled by the frequent killings, kidnappings, and destruction of farms allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen in Ibarapaland, Igboho last Friday stormed the Fulani settlements in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area and ordered the Sarki and his kinsmen to leave within seven days.
Igboho accused the Fulani community in the area of masterminding abductions, killings, and other criminal activities in the area.
Meanwhile, the police in Oyo have warned residents of the state against engaging in any act of lawlessness and violence in any part of the state.
State Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, issued the warning in a statement on Thursday by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi.
The police said four persons were injured when Igboho visited the place and the Fulani also allegedly waylaid farmers returning from their farms the same Friday night and hacked four of them.
Governor Seyi Makinde had on Wednesday in a state broadcast condemned the threat to evict the Fulani, while warning those behind the threat to desist or be ready to face the wrath of the law.