*As oil dealer says “all my kidnappers spoke Yoruba fluently”
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
What is said is that, one of our respondents said, “Whereas we have heard Hausa-Fulani leaders like Sultan of Sokoto admitting that crime has no religion neither has tribe but that all criminals should be arrested and treated as criminals but not as whatever religion or tribe they claim, our people in the South West or South East or South South have never for once admired that any of their own could have been criminals. It is sad.”
There was a twist to the existing claims wrapping up Fulani herdsmen living in South West of Nigeria as responsible for kidnapping and other criminalities perpetrated in the region.
This was because, an Ekiti State oil dealer recently kidnapped but later released, Mr. Suleiman Akinbami, while recounting his terrible experience in the hands of his abductors, said those who kidnapped him must have been in Yoruba Land for a long time if they are not Yoruba’s sons of the soul.
Speaking further, he said the kidnappers spoke Yoruba fluently doubting thus puncturing the claims by some Yoruba people especially in Oyo State, that only the Fulani people herding cows in the region’s bushes are responsible for the crimes against people in the part of the country.
Akinbami was abducted on January 10, 2021 by gunmen at one of his filling stations in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital and his abduction had been widely spread in the media to be one of the evils the Fulani perpetrated against the Yoruba people”on whose land they live and herd”. He was released a week later in Kogi State after paying an undisclosed sum as ransom.
The claims that Fulani are at the centre of the crimes had necessitated the likes of Sunday Adeyemo alias Sunday Igboho issuing a quit notice for Fulani to leave Yoruba Land and at the expiration of which, in carrying out his threat of waging war on them, he went and attacked the Fulani people including burning down of the house and cows of the Sariki Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Salisu AbdulKadir, on account that he harboured kidnappers, an allegation the Sariki had repeatedly debunked.
It would also be recalled that a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, who hails from the same Ekiti and Yoruba Land like Akinbami, once said majority of those criminals who are ritual murderers and kidnappers in the Yoruba Land bushes and communities are Yoruba people.
Records show that major kidnaps in Yoruba Land in the past were either by people of Igbo and Yoruba extractions. Still hanging in the balance in case of kidnap of immediate past Attah of Aiyede Ekiti, His Royal Majesty Oba Joseph Orishagbemi. He was kidnapped in Ekiti and taken to Login State where the kidnappers’ car had accident killing the traditional ruler and some members of the gang leaving others seriously injured. After treatment, the survival kidnappers revealed the political interest of a very high ranking Ekiti politician, who sent them to kidnap the rich king is yet to be decided in court.
Another is Evans, the richest kidnapper that earned his ransoms in hard currencies. He is not a Fulani and yet, after all sentiments of he being persecuted for being Igbo and claim that he was a man of God who read Bible very well, lawyers in connivance with some elements have frustrated the case against him in court and so it has not been decided.
What is said is that, one of our respondents said, “Whereas we have heard Hausa-Fulani leaders like Sultan of Sokoto admitting that crime has no religion neither has tribe but that all criminals should be arrested and treated as criminals but not as whatever religion or tribe they claim, our people in the South West or South East or South South have never for once admired that any of their own could have been criminals. It is sad.
“So sad that even kidnaps done at Oluku Junction inside Benin Boys Hot Spot in Benin City, our Southern people said they were Fulani. Suddenly we no longer hear of Benin Bad Boys. They are Fulani now committing kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes in Benin City even in Lagos. So sad. Between Ife roundabout and Ilesha going to Abuja in the night, the crime rate there is alarming and they are confirmed Ilesha people but all we hear is only Fulani do these crimes.
“Our Southern people can tolerate all manners of killings, criminalities so long they continue to be perpetrated by their own against them. The moment a gang of criminals has one or two Fulani as members, it is time to cry. Police in Oyo once said give kidnappers or criminals arrested were both Yoruba and Fulani but our people picked Fulani and stopped crying about the Yoruba members. So sad!” The respondent said.
Akinbami’s accounts weekend punctured these claims, when in an interview with PUNCH, he said his abductors, who claimed to be unemployed graduates, had a good command of the Yoruba and the English Language.
He said if they were not Yoruba, they would have been in Yoruba land for long.
“They spoke good Yoruba and good English. I want to believe that they had been in Yorubaland for long if they are not Yoruba. They spoke good Yoruba. They spoke good English as well. They claimed to be jobless graduates,” Akinbami said.
“I am appealing to the government; the economy is terrible. Those in authority should see how they can help the unemployed graduates through employment creation. Let the youths have something doing.
“The truth is that without jobs, it will be easy to recruit them into kidnapping, and nobody will be safe. I appeal to the state government and the Nigerian government to find a solution because my case will not be the last. Kidnapping has now become a trend. It is my prayer that we quickly find a solution to it.”
In the meantime, abuse of the gentility of the Muhammadu Buhari administration and converted democrat’ principle of the President has been blamed for the security compromise going on where people trace the religion and tribe of criminals rather than going after them as what they are: criminals.
The police docility was also equally blamed for the problems. Reason the likes of Sunday Igboho, Omoyele Sowore and some religious leaders, using unveriable claims nepotism fighting for the protection of Yoruba interests and religion, are still allowed to spread their news to cause disaffection among the people continues to worry many patriotic minds in the land, we gathered.
