The Arewa Consultative Forum has decried the violence against Fulani communities and herders in Oyo State which led to the burning of the houses and property of the Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, warning that this was how the 1966 Civil War gathered momentum.
The ACF National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, in an interview with SaharaReporters, noted that it was a “dangerous trend” and not good for the existence of the country while calling for restraint on all sides.
The settlement of the Seriki Fulani in Oyo State, Abdulkadir, had been allegedly set on fire by aggrieved youths on Friday night.
Abdulkadir had told SaharaReporters in Ibadan that he, his wives and children were sent out of the settlement, adding that 11 vehicles and houses were burnt in the process.
On Saturday, the ACF Secretary, Yawe, said, “It is a dangerous trend if something like that could happen. You pick up one ethnic group and start killing their local leaders and burning their property, it is entirely wrong.
“If there are reprisal killings, and there are many Yoruba in the North, as you know, then this country will no longer exist as it happened in 1966 when a fake report went out that northerners were being killed in the East. That was why the reprisals killings of the Igbo in the North took the dimension it took.
“After some time, it was discovered that no single northerner was killed in the east. But then the damage had been done. We fought a civil war and over two million persons were killed. So this is a very dangerous dimension. I don’t know what could have caused it. I have not seen the report.”
The Seriki Fulani had told SaharaReporters that despite assurance by the police and the people of the state, his house was burnt in security agents’ presence.
“As we speak, we are in the bush. Our cars, numbering about 11, have been burnt. Some of my children sustained injuries and we are looking to get them to hospital. My children have left their houses for the bush. We need the government to help us. Police, Operation Burst and other security agencies were there when they set my house ablaze,” he had said.
Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Jiji, also confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the phone.
He said, “As we usually say, not all Fulani people are evil. Good people are among us. What can we call this now? The man is a gentleman and see how he was chased out of his house. We need the government to act now.”
Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Sunday Igboho, visited some Oyo communities on Friday to confirm compliance of Fulani people with the seven-day ultimatum he had given them last Thursday to leave Ibarapa and Igangan areas of Oyo State.
