BY UMMU ABUBAKAR, ILORIN
THE Sarkin Fulani of Igangan in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State, Salihu Abdulkadir, has called on the Emirs and other traditional rulers in the 19 northern states of Nigeria to come to the rescue of Fulani residents in the South West.
The Octogenarian, who is a Fulani man from Ilorin, Asa Local Government Area of Kwara state, blamed the Oyo State Police Command for his losses during the last Friday attack in Igangan.
He said if the police authorities had not given him the false confidence that all was well, he would have fled the area with his family members before the attack by Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, last Friday.
The Seriki spoke to journalists amid tears in Ilorin on Thursday, calling on the Federal Government to ensure justice as regards the destruction of his properties, adding that he lost his children, visitors and seven relatives during the bloody clash.
He listed properties destroyed to include 11 exotic cars, 207 cows, buildings and other properties within the building, estimated at N500m.
Abdulkadir said, “A few days to the time of the destruction, after Sunday Igboho had given me an ultimatum, the Police came to my place and told me that I should not worry because Sunday Igboho would not carry out his threat. It was based on this assurance that I relaxed because I believed the Police.
“If I knew that Sunday Igboho would come and attack us the way he did, I would have left with all my family members and properties in peace and they would have met empty houses to destroy.”
He, however, insisted that he never connived with kidnappers operating in the area as alleged by Igboho and his men.
On the alleged gruesome killing of a farmer, Dr Fatai Aborode, the Seriki said the stories being heard were fabricated by Igboho to fulfil what he described as his mission to chase Fulani men out of Igangan and environs.
He urged the Federal Government to probe the burning of his house and vehicles as well as the killing of his people, noting that anyone found to have perpetrated the act must be made to face the law.
“My family and I have been living in Igangan for over 50 years without any problem with anybody, either in Igangan or any other place,” he said.
Narrating some events of the past, Abdulkadir said, “When a Fulani boy, named Omomogeto, was reported to me that he raped someone, I told the vigilante to arrest the Fulani boy. When he was arrested, I investigated the matter and discovered that he committed the offence.
“I handed him over to the family of the victim. A young lady was raped by an indigene of Igangan last year and that young lady died in Igangan. Nothing was done to the man who raped the young lady.
“There was no case of farm destruction that was reported to me and I did not send people to go and look at the farm that was destroyed. If I discovered that it was true, I would order the Fulani to pay money to the farmers. I have a file where I record all the issues affecting the farmers.”
Abdulkadir expressed regret that he might not be able to return to Igangan again after the incident, saying, “My people and I will not feel comfortable returning to Igangan. We even heard that the government had deployed over 200 Amotekun personnel to the forests in Oyo. Who will they meet in the forests other than the Fulani?”
