Don’t Turn Ekiti to War Zone, Fayose Warns After Death of Herdsman

Victor Ogunje

Following the killing of Fulani herder identified as Babuga Dengi, in Ekiti State last Monday, Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has warned against reprisal attacks, saying “there is no room for the killing of Fulani herders or farmers or anybody in the state.”

Dengi was on Monday killed in a bush path between Irele and Oke Ako in Ikole Local Government by people suspected to be from Benue State.

Last Thursday in Benue, there was mass burial of 73 victims allegedly killed by the Fulani herdsmen.

Fayose said the warning became imperative to prevent violence between farmers and herders and not to give anybody licence to unlawfully take human life.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday during a meeting with Fulani herdsmen under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, farmers, local hunters, security agencies and representatives of the Tiv community, Fayose warned that nothing must be done to affect the peace being enjoyed in the state.

Tension had been rising in Ekiti owing to rejection of Benue’s AntiOpen Grazing Law, which Ekiti had earlier enacted due to intractable feud between the herdsmen and farmers.

Fayose, who warned Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers against turning Ekiti to a war zone, ordered security agents to also quickly fish out the killer of the cattle rearer.

He said: “I can’t accept anybody to be killed. If anybody kills anyone, I will make sure you are killed by ensuring justice. I’m sad about the killing in Benue but we don’t want brutality in Ekiti.

“I won’t accept any killing here, the only thing acceptable here is peace. I therefore plead with everybody to cooperate with us.

“I want peace in my state and everybody living here is from Ekiti whether you are Fulani, Tiv, Yoruba or anybody. Cow matter can’t cause problem between us. Oke Ako-Irele issue should not be allowed to fester. Cooperate with us and whoever kills would be fished out.

“When you are entering Ekiti, drop wherever you are coming from at the boundary. You can’t kill Yoruba, Fulani, Igbo or Tiv here. From information so far, the deceased died as a result of clash between Fulani herders and some Tiv people, but even at that, we can’t condone lawlessness. We don’t want that type of Benue issue here.”

A communique read by Fayose at the end of the meeting summoned leaders of the herdsmen, farmers, hunters, council chairmen and traditional rulers from Oke Ako and Irele to an expanded meeting.

The meeting while noting that the problem in Oke Ako was between Tivs and Fulani, resolved that the people must live in peace.

The meeting also ordered security agencies to fish out the killers of the herdsman in the area.

It also agreed that the committee on herdsmen should be expanded to include Fulani herders while urging the committee to be more proactive and report immediately to security committee when they see strangers in their communities.

“We ask security agencies to do more in intelligence gathering, information and prevention, while we thank them for what they have done so far,” the communique added.