Insecurity: Miyetti Allah begs, as Akeredolu orders herdsmen to vacate forest reserves

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, yesterday, pleaded for more time  as Governor Rotimi Akeredolu issued an executive order to herdsmen in Ondo state to vacate the forest reserves in seven days.

But the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, on its part, lauded Akeredolu’s action, saying no responsible Governor should tolerate what herdsmen are doing.

This came on a day the Chairman, Western States Security Network, codenamed, Amotekun in Oyo state, Gen. Kunle Togun (retd), raised the alarm that most commercial motorcyclists in the state were spies for kidnappers and bandits, who infiltrated South-West through the porous borders of the country.

Meanwhile, Gen. Togun (retd) disclosed that the foreigners who were ferried inside trailers into Oyo State during the Covid-19 lockdown, could not speak any Nigerian language but French whenever accosted by his men.

Togun said the greedy nature of some traditional and community leaders in many Yoruba towns, led to a high rate of insecurity, which he said, Amotekun has been curbing.

His words, “Before Amotekun was established, the problem of Yorubaland since the invasion of these herdsmen has been our traditional chiefs and leaders in Yorubaland, they take money, cows and cars from these people and allow them to settle and wreak havoc in their domains.

“I have attended meetings of monarchs in Oke-Ogun and i told them to stop giving lands to foreigners, these herdsmen are called Bororos in Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa areas, they are not Nigerians, what is happening should not be analysed in the area of religion , it is territorial expansion.

“Their leaders argue about the ECOWAS Free Movement law, but the one i am aware of is that anybody from ECOWAS country can go into another ECOWAS country without a visa but you cannot stay there for more than 90 days at a stretch. Some of these people have been occupying our land for years and they are not Nigerians.

“Most of them that were dumped here by trailers during the Covid-19 lockdown, have turned to Okada riders, many are carrying wheelbarrows all over the place, selling carrots, oranges and the rest, the okada riders are their spies, we have noted that and we are working on government policy that will curtail the use of these people to foment crisis in Oyo state and Yorubaland as a whole”.

In a related development, women of Agundama-Epie community, Yenegoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, have complained about incessant destruction of crops by herders that invade their farmlands, uproot cassava and other crops and feed their cows.

The women-farmers called on relevant authorities to come to their aid, regretted that herders usually rendered their efforts useless every farming season by feeding cattle with their crops.

Narrating their experiences, women leader of Agudama-Epie community, Chief (Mrs.) Duenize Ogon alleged, “These Fulani herdsmen threaten our women, they threaten to even rape them. If they meet our women spraying insecticides in the farms, they threaten to kill them, saying that they want to kill their cattle, they uproot our cassava and give to their cows to eat.

“Therefore, we are begging the government to come to our aid, we have met with the state commissioner of police , so they are trying to reach the Miyetti Allah leadership in the state to call their men to order.