Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has estimated the damage and loss suffered in the early Tuesday morning fire at his residence at Soka, Ibadan, at N50million.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the fire incident, suspected to have been caused by arsonists, Adeyemo described the perpetrators as cowards.
Our Correspondent reports that Adeyemo was recently in the news for giving an eviction notice to Fulani herdsmen in Igangan, Ibarapa North LGA of Oyo State.
The notice followed allegations of killings, rapes and kidnappings levelled against the Fulani herdsmen in the community.
Adeyemo said that the house attacked by the suspected hoodlums was his old residence, adding that the perpetrators did not have the guts to attack where he lives.
“When the fire started, they called me and by the time I got there, the arsonist had fled.
“They are cowards. Why can’t they come to where I live. You would have seen evidence because they won’t escape,” he said.
On the speculation that he has been tipped to be the Commander of Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Amotekun, Adeyemo said he was not interested in such.
“I don’t seek such relevance. What I am saying is that the Fulanis herders that are terrorizing my people should leave the area.
“We want peace and that is all. I don’t need any political appointment or money from anybody. We only want peace in our area,” he said.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Police Command has disclosed that unidentified hoodlums are responsible for the burning of Igboho’s house at SOKA area of Ibadan.
The Police noted that the hoodlums came to the house in the early hours of Tuesday in a Hummer bus and Micra firing sporadically, and later set the house ablaze.
A statement by the Police Public Relation Officer of the Command, Gbenga Fadeyi said that the mini sitting room of the house got burnt in the process while amount of other properties burnt is yet to be estimated.
“Immediately the DPO Sango got wind of the incident, he contacted Fire service while he also went to the scene for on the spot assessement.
Fadeyi however said that the fire was eventually put out and investigation has commenced into the incident while the Police is on the trail of the hoodlums.
In the meantime, some residents who spoke on condition of anonymity, corroborated the statement of the police that the suspected arsonists came in a Toyota bus and Micra car around 3am on Tuesday.
They said that the suspected hoodlums shot sporadically into the air to scare away residents before setting the house on fire.
Recalled that, several houses belonging to the Seriki Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, were allegedly set on fire by aggrieved youths in Igangan community of Ibarapa zone of Oyo State, on Friday night after the visit of Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) to enforce his seven-day quit notice to the Fulani herdsmen in the area.