LESS than a week after the Seriki Fulani of Igangan, Saliu Abdulkadir and many others left Igangan, in Ibarapa zone of Oyo State, secretary of the Farmers Association in Ibarapaland, Mr Taiwo Adeagbo, has raised the alarm that the Fulani have been returning to the town.
Noting that virtually all the Fulani left upon the intervention of Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, Adeagbo said with the continued entry of the herdsmen, residents of Igangan are once again living in fear.
He noted that the return of the Fulani was signalled on Sunday when, hours before Governor Seyi Makinde visited the town, two residents of Igangan were struck with machete at about 1.00 a.m.
Adeagbo said the governor, upon his visit, was made to see the two injured persons and he ordered that they be taken to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, for treatment.
He also questioned if the 200 Amotekun officers that the governor directed to be redeployed to save Ibarapaland had not been mobilised to all the areas of the zone.
“The Fulani left when the Seriki Fulani was evicted but they are sneaking in once again. They all left then. Poverty may be one of the things that makes our people sell out and allow the Fulani in. They are now allowing the Fulani back.
“We know the people themselves have to save the land; the Amotekun are yet to be mobilised to the problem spots,” Adeagbo said.
Speaking further, Adeagbo decried that residents of Kajola in Ayete also lived in fear, with one man (names withheld) becoming a territorial warlord.
He noted that the said Fulani man, with guns, had chased farmers and residents about 15 kilometres away from his settlement.
The man was said had gone all out against the residents of Kajola when they attempted to evict him like it was done to the Seriki Fulani of Igangan land.
Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, Convener, Igangan Development Advocate, Diran Oladokun, decried that the entry and exit points into Igangan remained porous.
He questioned that the strategy for security of people of the zone was still not visible. He noted that fear of the people of Igangan was rising again going by little visibility of security patrol vans, few Amotekun officers seen patrolling farm areas and recent attack on two residents of Asunura near Igangan.
He also expressed bafflement at the effrontery of one Iskil Wakil, a Fulani man, to open fire on residents of Kajola who asked him to leave the town.