* It’s an affront to Yorubaland.
The Ondo State Government and the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, have opposed a vigilante group set up by the Fulani herdsmen in the state.
While the Afenifere on Monday described the group an affront to the Yorubas, the Ondo State Government said it had ordered the arrest of members of the group.
The state government said it was not aware of the existence of the group. The state government in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Donald Ojogo, said it had called for the arrest of the unauthorized group or persons claiming to be Fulani vigilantes in the state.
The statement read, “The Ondo State Government observes with concern trending pictures of identity card carrying men identified as Fulani vigilantes in the Akoko area of the state. Various claims have been as regards the activities, duties as well as supposed mandate of these men in question.
“It is pertinent to recall that at the height of the incessant kidnap cases, the Ondo State Government took some far-reaching drastic measures which included marching orders to the law-abiding Hausa/Fulani leadership in the area to fish out criminal elements among them who took advantage of the rosy relationship between the indigenes and their law-abiding guests.
“As a measure to curb and possibly, stamp out cases of kidnap in the area, the Hausa/Fulani leadership was directed to select a handful of trusted men amongst them who could serve as tour guards in the thick forest as security agencies prepared to comb the forests. This measure yielded results.”
“It is important to note however, that while government appreciates the efforts of those who volunteered to provide information and served as tour guards to the security agencies in the ongoing operations in the area, it will not tolerate any unathourised move by any group to take an undue advantage of the current state of insecurity in the country.
“ Succinctly, government, having been unaware of any such identity card carrying persons in the name of a vigilante group, has directed security agencies to get to the root of the matter and apprehend any such person or group of persons operating in that manner.”
In the same vein, the Afenifere, said the development was not good for the security of the Yorubaland.
The Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, In phone conversation with ThePunch said, “We have seen the pictures. It is a big affront to the Yoruba nation that the Fulani vigilante has now been set up throughout the Yorubaland, carrying arms, mounting checkpoints when our own elected governors would not be allowed to set up state police.”
He added, “ We now have bandits, terrorists, carrying guns on our streets, even mounting roadblocks. This is a monumental tragedy for our nation. This means the Buhari administration does not mean well for the unity of this country.”
The group called on the Ondo State Government to stop immediately the “illegal occupation of our land within the shortest possible time, and if they refused to do we would not restrain our people from confronting them.”
When contacted, the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah, Baba Usman, told one of our correspondents, “I don’t know anything about that. I just heard this from you now. The security agencies should go after them; I don’t know anything about that one.”
