Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, a.k.a Sunday Igboho has said that he is not waging war against Fulani, faulting claims that his approach to the herdsmen crisis can lead to ethnic war.
Igboho, who had been actively involved in condemning and demanding of killer herdsmen from the South West, said his aim is to make the region secure for all.
READ: Killer herdsmen enjoy military backing, act as if they have immunity — Soyinka
“Actually, there is no more fear of civil war regarding the cause that I am fighting. Those who thought that such could happen had the fear because they have hidden agenda. We are not waging any war against Fulani people. Our own fear is that our leaders are friends of the Fulani, who know the herdsmen, who are criminals in our midst. Our appeal to the Fulani is to bring the killer herders in our midst to book,” he said in an interview published by The Punch.
He also said that he was not responsible for the burning of the house of Seriki Fulani at Ibarapa.
“Let me make myself clear to everyone on this today. On getting to Eruwa, I reported myself to the Police Area Command and having explained our mission, the Area Commander chose to follow us. The A/C and his team followed us. On getting to Igangan, we met the police and men of Operation Burst. We went into the town and returned shortly after and reported ourselves to the Operation Burst team at the entrance of the town. The question is: Would the Area Commander have watched us go to Seriki’s house to set it on fire? Another question is: Could Operation Burst team have allowed us to go freely if we had such a record? There was nothing like that when we were in the town; so we didn’t do it. We learnt that it was an angry mob that went to do that,” he added.
He called on state actors to secure the people they were elected to protect and defend while expressing fears that the government is not doing enough to address the fear of a possible reprisal in Ibarapa and Oke Ogun.
“Yes, the people are living in fear. They are afraid that the people might attack them and that is being done by one Isikilu Wakili. He has turned himself into terror and authority in the area and nothing is being done to address the situation. We heard about this two months ago and like I said, nothing is being done to address it. If the governor hears about Wakili killing our people, harassing them and plundering their farm and yet little or nothing is being done, it is sad. We expected the governor to direct the security agencies to smoke him out but there is virtually no action,” he said.
The activist also said he does not need any foreign donation to support his campaign to flush out killer herdsmen from Yorubaland.
