We’ll Resort To Self-Help if You Fail To Protect Us, Ibarapa Residents Tell Makinde

Some aggrieved residents and youths of Igangan in Ibarapa North Local Council of Oyo State, yesterday, welcomed Governor Seyi Makinde with placards, demonstrating their displeasure with the way the security situation in the region was handled.

The inscriptions on the placards read Fulani Must Stop Raping Our Women”, “No More Seriki, No More Carnage”  “Ibarapa Land Not Fulani RUGA”, “Stop Fulani Massacre of Ibarapa People”, among others.

Ibarapa residents of the community have said they will resort to self-help and defence if the governor fails to guarantee the protection of their lives and property, as  they also demanded immediate arrest of Seriki Fulani of Oyo, Alhaji Abdulkadri Saliu, and other herdsmen terrorising the people of the area.

A letter sent to the governor, dated January 31, 2021 by  President, Igangan Development Advocates, Mr. Wale Oladokun reads in part: “Even though promises were made by Your Excellency to rejig the security architecture of the zone through your delegation team detailed to the region immediately after the ejection of Seriki Saliu by Sunday ‘Igboho’ and its aftermath, the Amotekun operatives deployed to the zone have not been seen to be performing the primary functions for which they were deployed.

“If no meaningful and effective security is put in place to guarantee the safety of lives and property of Igangan and Ibarapa people between the time His Excellency is reading this letter and Wednesday, February 3, 2021, the people would have been left with no other option than to take to self-defence using whatever means necessary or deemed fit.

“We demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Fulani kingpin simply known as “Wakil” as well as Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Abdulkadiri Saliu, who have been terrorising the region and obstructing justice in the arrest of Fulani criminals so far made.

“We demand the payment of compensation and palliatives for the victims of Fulani attacks and their families. We vehemently reject the return of Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Abdulkadri Saliu, to our land.”