Fulani Herdsmen Form Vigilante Group In Ondo State (Photo)

 

The Ondo State Government and the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, have opposed a vigilante group set up by the Fulani herdsmen in the state, according to Punch.

 

Describing it as an affront, Afenifere on Monday called the Ondo State Government to arrest members of the group.

 

This is coming after pictures of a legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, and some suspected Fulani herdsmen, who mounted a roadblock in Ondo State, were trending on the social media on Monday.

 

An identity card of one of the armed herdsmen, on the social media, indicated that they were members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and they belonged to the Ikare-Akoko branch of the association.

 

The logo of the vigilante group was two guns while the code was MACBAN/NHQ/MSC.

 

Ajulo, in an interview with Punch, said the issue of security should be well taken care of and should not be politicised. He narrated his encounter with the controversial Fulani vigilante group on the telephone.

 

He said, “ If it comes to the issue of security, we must secure our lives and property. When it comes to politics, it is something else. We should not mix security with politics.

 

 

Also, Ajulo, during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily in Abuja on Monday, said he saw Fulani herdsmen with cattle, guns and cutlasses and they showed me their ID cards that they were vigilantes and they were the ones securing the highway.

 

Ajulo, who is a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, said he had always been of the opinion that the herdsmen/farmers crisis should not be given an ethnic coloration but his recent experience had altered his stance.

 

He noted that most security guards in the South-West were persons of northern extraction, but said his recent encounter was enough to put fear in the minds of Yoruba people.

 

Ajulo added, “The South-East is saying they don’t want Fulani herdsmen in their land but they are now in Yorubaland. This is real. Mind you, we are not castigating anybody. I lived in Lagos and in Ibadan and our security guards were usually northerners and we didn’t have any problem with them.

 

The Forward Buhari convener, however, admitted that the herdsmen did not act violently towards his entourage as they willingly allowed him to take their pictures and photos of their ID cards.

 

He also debunked the account that he was stopped by Fulani herdsmen.

“Our interaction is a voluntary undertaking as part of my profiling as a discerning leader of my community, desirous of curbing the menace of insecurity in Nigeria,” he stated.

 

When contacted, the state police command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Femi Joseph, said the command had commenced investigations into the matter. He said, “We are conducting our investigation into the matter. That is my reaction for now.”

 

But the state government said it was not aware of the existence of the group. The state government in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Donald Ojogo, said it had called for the arrest of the unauthorized group or persons claiming to be Fulani vigilantes in the state.

 

The statement read, “The Ondo State Government observes with concern trending pictures of identity card carrying men identified as Fulani vigilantes in the Akoko area of the state. Various claims have been as regards the activities, duties as well as supposed mandate of these men in question.