From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Yoruba nation activist, Mr. Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, has taken a stance against the national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, for dismissing his recent quit notice to Fulani herders to vacate the South West.
Igboho stated that President Bola Tinubu would not tolerate the mindless killings of farmers, vicious rape of their wives, and destruction of farmlands.
Bodejo had, in an interview published in Saturday Sun, reacted to the quit notice by Igboho to criminal among the herders, said: “Nigeria has a constitution, which gives every citizen the right to live in any part of the country to pursue his or her legitimate endeavours. So, Sunday Igboho was released to come and start his madness again, and start giving some people quit notice; it seems that some people are trying to use him. If he were from another country, he could have been ignored, but since he is a Nigerian, he is supposed to know that Nigeria has a constitution that says everybody has the right to stay anywhere in the country.
“However, if that person commits any crime, the security agencies are supposed to arrest and charge him to court. I don’t know the reason Sunday Ighoho is acting like this; he wants to be a Yoruba hero. He should realise that the current president is a Yoruba man. Yoruba have very intelligent elders and they would not act the way Igboho is acting. I call on the president to use the security agencies to call Ighoho to order. Fulani have lost so many lives and property in that area.
“No Fulani person will listen to him or relocate to another place because they are aware of their right to stay anywhere in Nigeria. They obey laws and order. Nobody can ask Fulani men to leave and go to any other place. Before he was born, Fulani were in that area doing their legitimate activities. No Fulani man takes him seriously. He should be very careful with his utterances. We are law abiding and we are making the Fulani to understand that Nigeria is one and everyone has the right to stay anywhere. There are Yoruba in Kano, Nasarawa and other parts of the North, and nobody has asked them to leave the North. What Igboho has said doesn’t in anywhere make sense.”
But Igboho, in his response to Bodejo’s comments, described him as a “mere attention seeker” and emphasised that it is true that constitution allows citizens to reside anywhere in the country, but does not support herders grazing their cattle on farmlands and causing harm to farmers and their families.
In a statement, personally signed by Igboho, and made available to journalists yesterday, he said, “It is glaring that Bodejo is merely seeking undue recognition through his unjustifiable position on the carnage by his fellow Fulani herders, which had caused untold hardship for small and large-scale farmers, even in the North and more prominently in the South, where they often move their cattle to graze in farms and destroy cash crops.”
Igboho further warned Miyetti Allah to be aware that the acts of lawlessness under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would not be tolerated by the current President, Bola Tinubu.
He called on relevant security agencies and the people not to allow further attacks on farmers in the South West, where many innocent farmers have already lost their lives.
The statement also urged security agencies to redouble their efforts and strategies in ensuring peace and tranquility in all parts of the country, particularly in the South West.
Igboho expressed belief in the efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and other paramilitary agencies, but advised the people to be vigilant and report any acts that could disturb the peace in their communities.
The statement read in part: “It is imperative for the Miyetti Allah group to be conscious of the fact that the acts of lawlessness permeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari will not hold sway under the immediate incumbent President Bola Tinubu. It will do them a lot of good to perish the thought of unprovoked attacks on farmers, particularly in the South West, where we have lost many innocent farmers. Relevant security agencies and the people will not allow them to further compound the woes of the common man.
“We are again charging the heads of security agencies to redouble their efforts and strategies in ensuring that the sustenance of peace and tranquility in all parts of the country, including all the states in the South West so that farmers and agrarian communities will not be subjected to terror and violent attacks by rogue Fulani herders and cattle rustlers.
“While we believe in the efficiency of the Police, the Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other paramilitary agencies to ensure security of lives and properties, we want to charge our people to be vigilant and quickly report any act capable of breaching the peace in their respective communities and locations.”