Youths reject herdsmen in Osun town

Some youths at Otan-Ile town in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State on Wednesday staged a protest rejecting Fulani herdsmen in the area.

The youths said they realised that more Fulani herdsmen have invaded the community and that the people of the town were not feeling safe.

A resident of the town told Daily Trust that some youth in the town were arrested by policemen over the killing of some cows in the town.

The youth carrying placards protested in major streets in the town shouting ‘Bororo must go’ and ‘Our land is not safe’, among others.

It was gathered that some youths clashed with Fulani herdsmen who moved into the town recently with their cows.

The youths started having clash with the herders when some farmers in the town had a disagreement with the herdsmen.

A Fulani herder who preferred anonymity told Daily Trust that a large number of cows were shot dead by people in the town for no reason.

The youths said many farmers have been arrested in the town in connection with the killing of the cows.

The youth leader in the town, Wasiu Sanusi, said the youths in the town were fed up with the excesses of the Fulani herdsmen.

He noted that the bullets removed from the dead cows were not local bullets but those of rifles.

“So, we are baffled at the way the herdsmen are threatening us on our lands. They continue to use police to arrest our people, detain them and make them pay for bail for offences they know nothing about.

“Where would our people get rifles? What they use here are local Dane guns and the bullets removed from cows are not local bullets.”

“We have resolved that these people should vacate our town. We can’t be threatened on our land,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said the matter was under investigation.