Makinde invites Oyo Police Commissioner over arrest of ‘Notorious Herdsman,’ OPC members
…as Gunmen kill four farmers in Ibarapa land
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has invited the state Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko on the recent twist in the security situation in Kajola, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the State.
The Governor who said he is aware of the goings-on in the region assures that his administration is doing everything within its powers to ensure there is no miscarriage of justice.
He vowed that anyone found wanting of breaking the law, irrespective of the ethnic background or religion will be dealt with in accordance with the law of the land.
Makinde spoke on Monday while performing a symbolic presentation of school notebooks to secondary school students across the state.
The event which held at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s office, Agodi Ibadan was attended by top government functionaries and select school students.
It would be recalled that that members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) on Sunday apprehended a suspected kidnap kingpin, Iskilu Wakili in Ayete, Ibarapa area of the state however, police detained some of the members who arrested Wakili accusing them of alleged arson and murder.
However, the Federal Capital Territory OPC coordinator, Adedeji Oluwole, insisted it didn’t burn down the house of Wakili after he was arrested on Sunday at his residence between the Kajola and Ayete areas of Ibarapaland in Oyo State.
The OPC also said no one was killed when ten of its operatives carried out Wakili’s arrest on Sunday morning, adding that Wakili and three of his accomplices were immediately handed over to the police in Igboora
“We arrested Wakili and three of his men. Nobody touched them. We were not there to kill anybody or to burn the house.”
He called on Yoruba leaders to come to the rescue of his men, saying it is unfortunate that the police resorted to hunting his men after arresting the notorious Fulani warlord while Wakili was moved to the hospital.
Oluwole said, “My boys are still in police custody but we call on Yoruba leaders to come to our rescue because these boys are innocent; they know nothing about these allegations. Up till now, they have not taken them to court and they are still in their custody. Even I myself, the police have been chasing me and I’m shocked because I have not committed any offence.”
But while speaking on Monday, Makinde said, “I am aware of what is going on in Kajola in Ibarapa North local government area of Oyo state. I will like to use this opportunity to tell our people that, the government is doing everything within its power to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.
“Anyone that is found wanting or that has broken the law, irrespective of their ethnic background or their religion will be dealt with in accordance with the law of the land.
“So, people shouldn’t go into overdrive.
“I have asked the Commissioner of Police to see me today and I have been given the assurance that they will do a thorough investigation into the security situations in the area.
“And I appeal to our people to please let us be calm. Please let us refrain from ethnic profiling, let us have trust in the ability and the capability of the people saddled with the responsibility of maintaining law and order within our state.
“It is the government that you put in place and the government will continue to work in the interest of the people of Oyo state.”
In the meantime, the alleged Ibarapa Fulani warlord, Iskilu Wakili has debunked the accusation that say he is responsible for the kidnappings and killings at ibarapa North Local government.
Wakili made this known while speaking with Nigerian NewsDirect Correspondent at the State CID command in Ibadan.
He explained that he got back from traveling from Benin republic on March 1, not feeling well when he heard that the Amotekun are coming to hunt him.
“I was not feeling alright as I just returned from Benin republic so laid in my hunt when I heard noises that the Amotekun are coming armed and with my health, I was unable to make a run so I advised others to run for their dear lives, I was arrested and dragged to Igboora police state before I was moved to Ibadan.
“My houses were burnt down, my daughter is currently laying lifeless at the hospital and I am ready to go anywhere since I know nothing about the kidnappings and killings in Ibarapa. At a point, my children were kidnapped and I had to pay millions to set them free.”
The 74-year-old blind man insisted that he has a clean record and he has never been involved in any criminal cases, he urged whoever has a point to prove to come out.
“I have never been to a police station and I have a clean record of criminal act as I have no hand in the kidnappings and killings in the state.”
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, CP Ngozi Onadeko said that at about 0900 hrs of date (7th March 2021), information was received that a group of persons later found out to be members of the Odua Peoples Congress- OPC) invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State.
“The invasion was reportedly aimed at arresting one Wakili, a Fulani by tribe, who is alleged to be the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against the people/farmers of Yoruba origin in the community.
“At 9am on Sunday morning, the area commander and DPO Ayete called to inform us that some people attacked a Fulani camp and 3 people including wakili were arrested and taken to Igboora police station division.
“By the time they got to state CID, they were interrogated and we found out that 3 people arrested along with Wakili were OPC members and we should know that they have been trying to arrest Wakili for a while now. They said they got to the camp and they were attacked by Wakili and others.
“The issue is that as the OPC members left the camp, they set it on fire and a woman was shot in the stomach with her intestine gushed out and died in the process.”
However, OPC insisted that no one was killed during the operation and no house was burnt.
In a related development, gunmen, on Monday, killed at least four farmers in Konkobudo village, Idiyan axis, a border village located between Ibarapa North and Iwajowa Local Government Areas of Oyo State.
It was gathered that the gunmen on motorcycles stormed the village before sunrise on Monday and shot the farmers who were asleep on their farmland. The criminals also hacked their victims before fleeing the village.
A resident of the village, Ogunniyi Joel, said the remains of the victims have been taken away by men of the Nigeria Police Force in Iwajowa.
“They came over night on about 10 motorbikes, shot the four farmers, hacked them and left. One of those killed is Sunday Okanlawon, a close relation. No one knows their identities whether they were herdsmen or not but the bodies of the farmers have been taken away by the police,” he said.
Also, the Public Relations Officer of Igangan Development Advocates in Ibarapaland, Oguntowo Abideen, confirmed the incident.
Monday’s incident occurred barely a day after the men of the Oodua Peoples Congress and other vigilante groups arrested and handed over notorious Fulani warlord Iskilu Wakili to the police.
Before Wakili’s arrest, farmers and residents of Ayete, Kajola and other neighbouring villages in Ibarapaland lived in perpetual fear of the notorious warlord who has been accused of displacing them from their farms, kidnapping their rich men and raping their women.
