Insecurity: Disquiet in Southwest

Following the statement credited to the Presidency that the Ondo State government lacked the constitutional power to order Fulani herdsmen to vacate Ondo forests and the state, there has been apprehension in all the six states that make up the Southwest.

A number of South westerners have said that it was high time governors in the region put the lives and property of their people ahead of their political and personal interests.

The agitation for a drastic action was against the backdrop of rampant cases of killings, kidnappings, banditry, rape, among other heinous crimes being perpetrated in all the six states of the South West geopolitical zone- Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Lagos- by some bad eggs among the Fulani herdsmen.

To be sure that criminal elements would no longer hide under the pretext of being herdsmen, the South West leaders have called for all-inclusive resident identification enrolment of the Fulani and other tribes if they must live in the region.

Recall that there have been series of killings and abductions in recent times in Ondo State, including the killing of Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Yoruba leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti; Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi, and Amos Arijesuyo, deputy registrar at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

There have been confrontations between members of the Amotekun Corps and Fulani herdsmen in Oyo; cases of rape and killings in Ogun and some bloody clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Ekiti and Osun states, among many others.

In the last few days, there have been reactions following the response by the Presidency to the ultimatum given to herdsmen on Ondo Forest reserves, by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

Akeredolu, who talked tough on the activities of the criminal elements in the state said security reports and debriefings from victims of kidnap cases pointed in one direction traceable to some bad elements masquerading as herdsmen.

“We have cases of several attacks on our people by these mindless elements. You will recall the gruesome murder of one of the members of the Ondo State Traditional Council who was caught in the web of the devious plans of these workers of evil on his way back to his domain.

“While we were still grieving, other kidnap attempts were made on the lives of road users across the state, especially along our boundaries and hinterland,” he said.

“We decided that all the criminal elements who hide under various guises to aid the destruction of farmlands as well as perpetrate other violent crimes such as kidnapping, drug peddling and other nefarious activities must be stamped out of our dear state,” he said.

In reaction, Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity in a statement he signed on Tuesday, said: “The state government and the leadership of the Fulani communities in Ondo State should dialogue for a good understanding that will bring to an urgent end, the nightmarish security challenges facing the state”.

He said Akeredolu “will be the least expected to unilaterally oust thousands of herders who have lived all their lives in the state on account of the infiltration of the forests by criminals”.

According to him, “If this were to be the case, rights groups will be right in expressing worries that the action could set off a chain of events which the makers of our constitution foresaw and tried to guard against.”

Yinka Odumakin, National Publicity Secretary of the Yoruba Socio-Cultural Group, Afenifere, said that President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government was putting the interests of Fulani above other tribes in the country; hence, the statement coming from the Presidency shouldn’t be a surprise.

Odumakin, who spoke on behalf of the Afenifere, said, “The intervention by what we mistakenly call the Federal Government of Nigeria on behalf of marauding Fulanis in Ondo state against the lawful government in that state did not cone to Afenifere as a surprise as it is in line with non-pretence by this regime that it represents only Fulani interests against those of Yoruba, Igbo, Junkun, Ijaw and other tribes in Nigeria.

“That the Federal Government and its minion, Garba Shehu, could only hear Ondo State when Governor Akeredolu was very loud and clear about herders to vacate forest reserves in the state is symptomatic that this government has a serious problem with heating the rest of us when the issue involves its anointed Fulanis.

“The Fulani criminals have caused untold hardships in Ondo State and other Yoruba towns and cities in recent time and only an irresponsible government that wants to behave like our Federal Government that will continue to fold its arms.”

Olumide Kayode, a Public Affairs analyst from Ogun State, said that the illegal activities of the herdsmen are getting too much in the region with rampant various crimes being committed almost on daily basis by these herdsmen, just as he called on Southwest governors to fully empower the Amotekun Security Corps and establish effective resident identification cards scheme that can check illegal movement of all tribes, especially those living among the South westerners.

Adetoun Adedodotun, a resident of Lalate in Oyo State, wondered why Ondo State governor and other governors lacked power to order criminals to vacate their states if living with them could cause crisis and chaos, adding that “we are tired of living with these criminals marauding themselves as Fulani herdsmen. This is the time for our governors to fight on our behalf. One can ask about what our Representatives and Senators are doing in the National Assembly that President will be obstructing them not to fight criminals.”

Governor Akeredolu has since reacted to the Presidency’s statement, expressing hope that within the seven days given to the herdsmen to vacate the forest reserves, there would be improvement in the security of lives and property in the state as he “believes that things will improve for better change.”

Governor Akeredolu, who spoke with BusinessDay through Jimoh Dojumo, Senior Special Assistant on Security, said, “I want to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is not in the picture of what is happening here because if he knew the clear picture of what is happening in Ondo State, there won’t be any negative reaction. We voted for him before he became the President and he is there to protect us not to destroy us.

“The security situation in Ondo State is becoming unbearable, every one of us living in the state know that it’s becoming unbearable to the fact that after the #EndSARS saga, there was never a day that one to two people will not be kidnapped in the state.

“This situation is embarrassing, disturbing even to the fact that our Amotekun Corps is overstretched and the best thing is to look for a way out which led to the invitation of Fulani and Hausa leaders four days ago where we rubbed minds together to address this issue of insecurity. It was there we discovered that we need to go ahead for solution.

“We discovered during the meeting that most of the destruction of farmers’ crops does occur at night time, based on night grazing. Then the governor deemed it fit to ban it,” Dojumo said.

“Another major fact is this issue of under aged grazing. How can you imagine a 7-8 year-old boy taking charge, grazing about 200 cows? These Fulani herdsmen keep on destroying people’s properties and they are doing this recklessly. These Fulani herdsmen will uproot cassava themselves and gather it in a particular place for cows to eat.
“At Arimogija in Ose Local Government Area of the state, they uprooted the cassava of a particular farmer and gathered it for their cows to feed on. And information got to this man and what the man did was to move along with his two sons to the bush and when they got there, they challenged these Fulani herdsmen and Fulani herdsmen fired gun at this man.

“They killed this man alongside his son while the elder son escaped with machete cuts. What can we say about that? This is what we have been experiencing every day,” he further said.

Meanwhile, state governments of all the Southwest states are about to emulate Lagos State Residents Registration Agency on the effective registration and enrolment of all residents of their states, including all tribes living within their jurisdictions as Ogun state government has finalised plans to begin resident identification cards scheme with others states are about to follow the suit.

This, some people believe, will be deployed in addition to Amotekun Security Corps to check insecurity in the region.