Farmers herders crisis: Oyo community declares war on killer Fulani herdsmen, Iskilu Wakili, others

Mr Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, has disclosed that the men of the Oyo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun, have been mandated to go after a notorious Fulani herder, Iskilu Wakili.

Adisa made the disclosure on Thursday at a virtual town hall meeting with the International Alliance for Justice and Peace, a Diaspora-based civil society organisation with interest in Nigeria.

Dwelling on the topic, ‘Fulani herdsmen’s violent rampage in Ibarapa: What is the true situation?’ Adisa said the over 200 Amotekun operatives deployed in the Ibarapa area of the state are on the field confronting criminal elements in the crisis-torn area.

Farmers and residents of Ayete, a town in Ibarapa live in perpetual fear of Wakili who was accused of displacing them from their farms.

However, following the eviction of the Seriki Fulani, Abdulkadri Saliu, from Igangan which members of the community had thought would mark the end to Fulani herdsmen oppression, Wakili had waxed stronger as he mounted no cross-zone on farms in a bid to send warnings to the people of the town that he cannot be evicted.

Wakili, a Fulani herdsman whose origin the villagers don’t know, was reported to have shot farmers who trespassed on the no cross-zone. The man is said to be more infamous than the ejected Seriki Fulani.

It was learnt that Wakili, who is said to be the leader of the herdsmen in the Ayete area of Ibarapaland, work with dozens of herders who are his disciples. Together with his battalion, they allegedly seized hectares of farmlands at Ayete, raped the women in the town, and kidnapped their rich men for ransom.

When asked what the state government was doing on Wakili, Adisa said he had fled ‘Iga Wakili’ his territory in the Ayete area of Ibarapaland.

He said, “As to whether Seriki Igangan and Iskilu will be invited for questioning, yes, why not? Because investigation is ongoing and some people have

been invited and when any of them is mentioned as to having contributed to the kidnap or killing of one person or the other, security operatives have to go after any of them that is involved and they will be dealt with.

“The Amotekun operatives in Ibarapaland have already been deployed. They are not in the barrack, they have been deployed on the roads, at the black spots in Ibarapaland and Oke-Ogun axes. Operations are ongoing as to how to tackle whether it is Wakili or any other criminal around that axis.”