Deyoruwa: Ogun community now a ghost town after herdsmen sacked 200 farmers, destroyed buildings
By Getting to Deyoruwa community, a totally dejected village situated in-between Remo and Egba land in Isara Community, Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State is not an easy adventure for a stranger as there seems to be a conspiracy of silence among people when one asks for descriptions. This scenario played out recently when a Pan-Yoruba Socio-cultural group, Yoruba Ko’ya Leadership and Training Foundation went on a fact-finding mission to the community.
The delegation to Deyoruwa was led by the convener of the movement, Otunba Deji Osibogun, a retired broadcaster and media entrepreneur to examine the plight of the farming community which was sacked and razed down by some criminals dressed as herdsmen some months back.
The mission was part of the vision of the movement to assess the menace of armed Fulani herdsmen in Yoruba Land and bring forward the panacea for malevolent development by working towards safeguarding Yoruba Land against external aggression. The good intention of the group did not however make the journey easy.
From Ogunmakin-Ajebo Interchange along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where the delegation stopped to make findings on how Deyoruwa could be located, there was palpable resistance to divulge information on the part of the roadside traders. The locals appeared scared of volunteering information to strangers for reasons known only to them.
The hope of getting to the village only brightened when a palm-win seller identified as Abiola Showumi broke the ice broke the ice despite the caution given by Yekini Rasaq, a road side vulcaniser. Otunba Osibogun’s knowledge of the area however helped as the locals who had gathered around became friendly informants.
Deyoruwa, a haven to local farmers planting cassava, yam and maize in commercial quantities was a green land where farmers in huge numbers lived in peace among themselves until they were ambushed by some men that were identified by villagers as Fulani Herdsmen because of their dressing.
The roadside traders claim that the said people act like herdsmen during the day but rob and molest travellers both at day and night along the Lagos-Ibadan Highway after which they jump into the ancient Remo village to seek refuge.
They alleged that after a while, they burnt down the village unchallenged for seven hours.
Getting to the 50-year old ancient farm stead called Deyoruwa, is a tumultuous journey from the highway as the path to the community which looked like a blot on the landscape is abysmally narrow, bushy and completely taken over by erosion.
A ghost town
Getting to Deyoruwa revealed a tale of a shattered heritage as the delegation was greeted by ruins and wreckages of houses mostly built with mud including what used to be a branch of the Methodist Church of Nigeria and a primary school with six classrooms named Eluju Primary School.
The only things remaining in the village are the leftover of the wood of the crushed buildings and the wreckage of the only building constructed with bricks which was identified as the house of the village head who along with his people, ran away when the assailants came and ordered them to leave the village with immediate effect.
Asked why people including a village head would be sacked from their community without any legal backing with no one challenging them and no one taking action months after the incident, Yekini and Soronke gave their account of what happened and why the situation remains the same.
“They are of Hausa-Fulani extraction. They would come as herdsmen during the day thereby making it difficult to differentiate whether they are armed robbers or Fulani herdsmen as their activities are unpredictable and unprecedented. They would kidnap and rob people along the express and run into the bush. During the day, they stay with our people here like herdsmen with between four to 20 cows, but from morning till night, they go to the main road to rob, sometime, they kidnap people.
“Gradually, they started tormenting our people whenever they are resisted by the villagers. They threatened to kill anyone who dared to challenge them. Sometime, they would order everyone out of the village for three hours whenever they want to operate. They would dispose their victims of their possessions; they even raped a woman one day because she had no money to give them when they kidnapped her.
“One day, they came at midnight, ordered everyone out and burnt down the entire village that used to be haven to many households. They boldly told the people that their presence was obstructing the smooth running of their activities. That was what caused the total destruction of the ancient community.”
This account was given by Yekini, a native of Olugbo village, near Abeokuta and corroborated by Soronke, another Egba man who claimed to have been living close to Denyoruwa for over 20 years.
Victim’s account
Abigail Onasanya, a native of Isara and a farmer was a resident of Deyoruwa before the community was attacked. She explained that she came to the village with her husband’s family from Isara to farm in Deyoruwa but they had to flee for their lives as it became unbearable due to the activities of the criminals masquerading as herdsmen.
“I was chased out of Deyoruwa with my husband by criminals who always appeared like herdsmen during the day but rob people along the express and kidnap for ransom. Though some of them speak Yoruba fluently, majority of them are Fulani who rear cattle here. We are not allowed to farm anymore on our land. We now live in Isara but sometimes, we come to the farm amidst fear and panic to farm and cut trees. I am here today with operators cutting tree for me,” she said.
She confirmed that there used to be a school known as Eruju Primary School and a big Methodist Church prior to the annihilation of the village. And when asked an estimate of the villagers’ populations, Madam Abigail said there existed not lesser than 25 buildings housing extended families with over 200 people.
A Canadian’s kidnap nightmare at Deyoruwa Intersection
Though Deyoruwa was burnt down almost two years ago but those that sacked the community are still at on the prowl terrorising the people along-Ibadan expressway. This is in spite of the Police Post, just three minutes drive from Deyoruwa junction along the Lagos-Ibadan Highway.
A Canadian, Kyliuk Morris, married to a Nigerian, was returning from Ibadan, Oyo State when he was kidnapped with his wife and dragged to Deyoruwa bush but his wife was later released to go and raise the ransom to facilitate the release of her husband.
Morris, a business man based in Abeokuta, Ogun state paid the sum of N2.5million before he was freed by his abductors and during his abduction, he claimed he was fed with eba and The Canadian and his wife, Justina, told newsmen that, I decided to speak out so that Nigerian government can know about my ordeal. I was kidnapped some weeks ago along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, some people pretending to be cattle herders but had sophisticated weapons ran into the road, shot at us and took us away. Everything happened within one minute.
“I spent three days inside the bush. They kidnapped me and my wife but later told my wife to go look for money to secure my release. They demanded for N20million but they eventually released me after collecting N2.5million. I am speaking out so that the general public can know that I have suffered for nothing other than investing my hard-earned money here in Nigeria.
“I invested close to N500million on Agriculture in Nigeria in the last four years, creating over 300 jobs in the process. The Nigerian government has been begging foreigners to come and invest here but they have failed to provide security for investors. In my case, the police were even the one that collected the ransom from my wife to deliver it to the kidnappers to secure my release. This is pathetic,” Morris claimed.
The heartbreaking account of Morris was corroborated by the duo of Yekini and Soronke who stated that the wife of the Canadian was nearly killed because she did not want to cooperate with the kidnappers initially but she had to surrender when shots were fired by the criminals.
However, the police, reacting to the accusation against the security agency by Morris as published by some news agencies, denied that it helped deliver ransom to kidnappers, describing the allegation as a figment of Morris’s imaginations and warning kidnapped victims against paying ransom whenever they are kidnapped so as to discourage the menace of kidnapping that is currently on a rise.
The Director of Organization and Publicity, Yoruba Koya Leadership and Training Foundation, Max Adeleye also claimed that he tried to contact the police. “I contacted the Police Public Relations officer of Ogun State Command, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi for comment and clarifications to confirm whether police was aware of the annihilation of Deyoruwa and if yes, to know if arrests were made and to know if anyone was arraigned and prosecuted in the court of law and to know if there have been convictions but there has been no response to my text message to him till now,” he said.
A prominent High Chief from Ipara, a major community in the neighbourhood of Deyoruwa confirmed the incident. The chief that doesn’t want to be identified for security reasons stated that when the men of the underworld struck, the Odemo of Isara who was the traditional ruler of Isara had not been installed, adding that now, all the traditional rulers in the neighbouring towns are putting resources together to restore order to Deyoruwa.
“In reality, they are herdsmen; they rear cows during the day but once it is evening, they rob road users along the highways and kidnap people for ransom. Deyoruwa used to be their hideout but one day, they burnt down the whole village because the villagers were trying to resist them. Yoruba people should brace up; our land has been cornered but sadly, our leaders are currently occupied by aggrandizement politics,” he stated.
Following the fact finding mission, Yoruba Koya has called on the government at all levels especially governors in Yoruba Land to be extraordinarily vigilant and take the security of their people very serious.
“We call on the government of Ogun State and well-meaning Yoruba people especially those God has blessed in the Gateway State to ensure that Deyoruwa is rebuilt and prove the criminals that there’s no territory for annexation in Yoruba Land,” Yoruba Koya stated
Additional report by Maxwell Adeleye
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