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Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Residents of Ondo State, particularly those who live in the Akoko division of the state as well as travellers plying the Owo-Abuja Road now live in fear.
They are anxious and angry over the operation of members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria who have formed vigilance groups mounting roadblocks on major roads in the area.
Palpable fear of attacks by Fulani herders grips the people on a daily basis, as they see Fulani vigilantes mounting checkpoints on roads across the state. The development has no doubt raised concern among the people of the state, including traditional rulers. Many residents have expressed worry on the operations of the vigilantes.
The state government has called on the police and other security agencies in the state to flush the armed vigilantes out of the road, saying they were not engaged by any authorised body to serve as vigilantes in any part of the state.
Residents are wondering why armed Fulani herders are the ones purportedly mounting checkpoints even when some of them are suspected to be involved in attacks on people of the area.
A community leader in Oka-Akoko, in Akoko South West Local Government Area of the state, Mr Wale Gidado said the residents of his community and other neighbouring towns now live in fear.
Gidado said the matter was already generating concern among residents of the town. He said the traditional rulers in Akoko Division, with the support of some political leaders in the area, have formally reported the matter to the state government, adding that the government had assured them that the vigilantes would be made to vacate the roads.
“We are not saying that the Fulani should not live around us, but our major concern is, why should they take over the security of lives of the Yoruba people that host them when everybody knows that they are believed to be mainly responsible for many of the crimes being perpetrated in this part of the country? We are tired of the Fulani vigilantes and they should henceforth vacate the roads. The police that have the responsibility to secure the people should perform their responsibilities.
“We are no fools, neither are we stupid. We know the right thing to do. So, they should not push us to the wall. We are men and women of peace and we embrace love in this part of the country.
They should not take our quietness for foolishness. We are law abiding citizens of Nigeria who want peace in our domain, but not at the expense of our lives.”
Mr Boluwatife Fadeyi, a rights activist who resides in Akure, the state capital, said the action of the Fulani vigilantes calls for serious investigations from the law enforcement agencies. He said there is considerable trepidation about their activities which he said was odd, considering the current security situation of the state and the country and the roles the Fulani herdsmen play in the insecurity pervading the country.
Fadeyi, who is the convener of Yoruba Redemption Forum, queried the rationale behind the action of the Fulani group. “Why is it that the same set of people terrorising the people of the South West are still being used as security agents in the same area? This is unfortunate and unbelievable. How come the same set of people causing weeping and gnashing of teeth to the people of South West still function as the ones securing our people? It is expected that the Ondo State governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, would send these people out of the roads immediately.
“We are not slaves and we can never be slaves. We have people who are well qualified to take care of our security needs in the South West, so there is no need for them to be on the roads,” he noted.
An indigene of Ikare Akoko in Ondo North Senatorial District, Mr Omotayo Elijah said: “The fear of Fulani herdsmen is now the beginning of wisdom in Yoruba land. We are worried. Who gave these vigilantes the authority to operate on the road? Why is it that the police have not challenged them and stopped them from continuing with their illegal operations? These questions should be answered by the security heads in the state.”
He said the government should save the people of the area, including motorists and travellers who ply the roads.
“How long do we continue to live in fear? How long will strangers continue to harass and terrorise us in our fatherland? How long will the government and security agencies watch lives being wasted? These are pertinent questions begging for answers.”
A Christian cleric in the state, Prophet Joseph Oladipupo, said he had personally confronted the vigilantes and challenged their presence on the roads. He said the government should be blamed for the actions of the vigilantes.
Said he: “I am disturbed and I am sure so many people are disturbed with the current situation of security in the country and in Ondo State in particular. This is worrisome and disturbing. The presence of the vigilantes who are members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria now prevent people of Akoko area from going to their farms. Many cannot travel on the roads because of the fear of what the vigilantes can do to them.
“This is a perilous time in our history and we should not sleep and watch things going this way. We must rise to the occasion. There is fear everywhere in the state as a result of the new means the herdsmen have devised in perpetrating their acts of killing and kidnapping. It is high time the government rose to the occasion and do something drastic to avoid bloodletting.”
But the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo said the state government had already directed the police and other security agencies to apprehend any Miyetti Allah vigilante mounting roadblocks in any part of the state. Ojogo said the state government would not tolerate any unauthorised move by any group to take undue advantage of the current state of insecurity in the country.
He said the state government had also taken some far-reaching measures, including an order to the leadership of the Hausa-Fulani in the area to fish out criminal elements among them.
“As a measure to curb and possibly, stamp out cases of kidnap in the area, the Hausa Fulani leadership was directed to select a handful of trusted men among them who could serve as tour guards in the thick forest as security agencies prepared to comb the forests. This measure yielded results.
“It is important to note, however, that while government appreciates the efforts of those who volunteered to provide information and serve as tour guards to the security agencies in the ongoing operations in the area, having been unaware of any such identity card-carrying persons in the name of a vigilante group, government has directed the security agencies to get to the root of the matter and apprehend any such person or group of persons operating in that manner,” he added.
Recently, a lawyer and rights activist, Dr Kayode Ajulo had an encounter with the Fulani vigilantes along the Ikare-Akoko-Owo Road and subsequently raised the alarm over the mounting of roadblocks on the high ways in Yoruba land by some Fulani vigilantes.
He said the Miyetti Allah vigilantes have direct phone lines with the neighbouring police stations, which confirmed some legitimacy on them.
“On sighting them, inquiry was made as to their duty on the highway with guns in their hands, being not uniformed men. They thereafter responded that they were members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Vigilance group whose operation is known to all the security apparatus in the area. Also, they willingly showed us their identity cards which had their names and designations. Some other security men came to corroborate their claims.
“It will not be out of place to ask this poser: Is it due to the lackadaisical attitude of the law enforcement agencies and disregard for the inputs and indelible contributions of our leaders, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and other local vigilance groups that these Miyetti Allah groups are now manning our highways in the South West? This is the question that must be addressed by all stakeholders regardless of their ethnic, religious and political affiliations,” Ajulo noted.
