Bombshell: Fulani herdsmen superior, says monarch, as they terrorize Ogbomoso communities in Oriire LG
Yinka ADETUNJI
About twelve communities in Oriire local government area in Ogbomoso zone of Oyo state are presently at the mercy of Fulani herdsmen (of Bororo and Barikujo i.e. indigenous Fulani stocks) and are having their farming activities truncated.
This is just as a monarch, Olobamo of Obamo, Oba James Adegoke Olukunle I, dropped a bombshell declaring that Fulani people are poles ahead of their Yoruba hosts in terms of superiority.
“These Fulani herdsmen cruelly and recklessly take their cows to graze our farms and they always go scot free,” a farmer who however preferred anonymity lamented while speaking with ogbomosoinsightonline.com Wednesday.
Continuing the farmer said, “It is so sad, nobody has come to our aid, and neither the Oriire local government authorities nor security agencies have stepped in. Our traditional rulers are helpless too even though we learned some of them connive with the criminals.”
Asiwaju Ojo Oluwatanna, who first broke the news in his popular radio programme, “Idi Abajo,” Tuesday night, while also speaking with ogbomosoinsightonline.com on phone, informed the matter had become so precarious that farmers are abandoning their farms.
Olobamo of Obamo
He stated his private investigations had revealed so many atrocities of the herdsmen in the localities, “The invaders are destroying farms, and if you report their atrocities to the police, it amounts to nothing, it doesn’t dissuade nor stop them from their nefarious activities.
“I have been hammering it on radio for about two months now to no avail; it is so sad the chairman of Oriire local government has made no intervention, and the matter continues to worsen.”
The fearless radio presenter warned youths in the communities are becoming fed up and are planning to engage the marauders, “But we are appealing to them to remain calm and patient.”
According to him the villages under the yoke of Fulani terrorism include Obamo, Elelu, Igbooran, Ayetoro Elesun, Onikeke, Idi-Iroko, Onla, Mobolorunduro, Alaropo, Oja Tuntun and Ladokun.
Further investigations revealed that there was a time corpse of a Yoruba person was found in one of the communities and “It is observed that these Fulani Bororo many times buy loaves of bread worth about forty thousand naira (N40, 000.00) which they take into the forest. Snatching of motorcycles has also become rampant,” another resident of one of the villages also disclosed under conditions of anonymity.
Yemi Olukunle, a prince of Obamo also bemoaned the situation saying he personally lost about five acres of cassava farm to the grazing animals, “It’s painful,” he added.
The chairman Oriire local government, Hon Alabi Olateju Michael, also spoke with ogbomosoinsightonline.com on the matter however debunking the allegation that his administration is not taking step to address the situation.
According to him, several meetings had been held on the matter noting, “Oriire is not like Ogbomoso South, we are close to the boundary, so, Fulani and Bororo people have easy access into this area, and I did not invite them. And I don’t allocate or sell land to them. It is our traditional rulers that give them land, we have had several meetings with the traditional rulers and herdsmen.
“We will hold another one Thursday. They mentioned one Tafa as a notorious Fulani herdsman, terrorizing the people, we invited him for questioning but they said he was born here and is over forty (40) years old. They complained he is terrorizing them but he grew up among them and am I the one that gave him land?”
The chairman speaking against the backdrop that most of the cows belong to big men in Yorubaland denied having cows with the herdsmen, “I have no cow with any Fulani herdsman.”
Oba Olukunle I, explaining his assertion that Fulani people are superior, remarked, “If a Fulani man is reported for destroying a farm and he is asked to pay ten thousand naira (N10, 000) as an instance, within two minutes they would cough it out but not so for the Yorubas. The Fulani rally round one another unlike Yoruba people, the moment they see one of them is in trouble they support him.”
Meanwhile it is learnt that the Area Commander, the Nigerian Police Force, Owode, has waded into the matter by inviting some traditional rulers for questioning.
It is hoped his intervention will bring permanent solution to the dastardly incident.
