Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta TRADITIONAL Rulers in Ketu communities of Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State have petitioned the...
Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta
TRADITIONAL Rulers in Ketu communities of Yewa North Local
Government Area of Ogun State have petitioned the Nigerian Army over alleged
connivance of its officers with herdsmen to harass villagers in the state.
The traditional rulers are the Oniggua of Iggualand, Oba
Micheal Dosumu; the Eselu of Iseluland, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi; and the
Alademeso of Igan Alade, Oba Gabriel Olalowo.
The monarchs in a petition addressed to the Brigade
Commander, 35 Artillery Brigade, Nigerian Army, Alamala, Abeokuta, complained
that herdsmen invaded their territories with soldiers and harassed their
people.
The traditional rulers in the petition titled, ‘matter of
urgency,’ dated January 7, 2020, said the incident occurred around 2pm on
December 19, 2020.
The petition read in part, “The Baale was asked to gather
his subjects and people from nearby villages which he did. The suspected
soldiers told the people that the purpose of their visit was to inform them that
the Fulani herders would be coming into their communities to graze cows.
“After their address, they asked if anyone had question or
comment to make in reaction to the information. Expectedly, one Mr Seye Mulero
responded by calling the attention of the soldiers to the inherent challenges
of allowing the herders in their communities based on the sad previous
experiences in the community.
“That the said Seye Mulero further cited past killings,
maiming and destruction of farms to buttress his point. Sadly, at this point,
the soldiers seized him and mercilessly beat him up.
“In the same manner, the Fulani herders in company of the
suspected soldiers left Ibeku for Asa, the adjoining village to address the
Baale of Asa and his subjects as they had earlier done at Ibeku, the people
refused to respond, having heard what transpired at Ibeku.
“However, one of the Fulani herders sighted some of people
in the audience and picked on them as those that purportedly shouted on them at
Ibeku while brutalising their victim (Seye Mulero). The herders asked the
soldiers to also deal with them.
The monarch further said the state Commissioner of Police,
Edward Ajogun, had on January 3 brokered a meeting over the matter at the
Police Divisional Headquarters, Eggua.
According to them, during the meeting, some of the herders
confirmed that they brought the soldiers that escorted them while grazing their
herds on the people’s lands, a development that the CP himself strongly
condemned.
The monarchs asked the military authority to identify,
investigate and prosecute the suspected soldiers for the alleged connivance and
involvement in the attacks on the villagers by the Fulani herdsmen.
Attempts to get reaction from the 35 Artillery Brigade,
Alamala, Abeokuta, failed as the new Army Public Relations Officer did not
answer calls to his mpbile phone, while he had yet to respond to a message sent
to his phone.
A source in the army, however, told our correspondent that
the Army in Abeokuta was aware of the issues in the areas, disclosing that no
fewer than four Fulani herdsmen were allegedly killed by the villagers and their
remains could not be found
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the
state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed that there were lingering problems between
the herders and the people into the area.
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