*They arrested three Fulani wrongly calling them the killers – Sariki Hausawa
*Says names submitted to DSS, demands their release as real killers arrested
*We will speak soon on development – Sariki Fulani
*Next meeting of National Traditional Rulers must table, take position on this – Source
*MURIC speaks
By KEMI KASUMU
An update on the attacks on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State has revealed that the killers in the attacks claimed on June 23, 2022 to have been arrested by the South West Security Network, Amotekun, were actually Fulani people.
It will be recalled that two weeks after the Amotekun Ondo State Commander, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, announced the arrest and kept the details hanging on the balance, the Islamic rights advocacy group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), challenged it to make public the identity of the suspected killers in its custody.
MURIC’s demand was necessitated by accusations spreading against the Fulani people in the state and by extension in the South West, largely by notable Yoruba groups such as the Afenifere among others.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had also submitted to its US senators who lobby on its behalf for United States Government to sanctions their own country, using the Owo Church attack as one of its major evidence to prove that Nigeria and its Government under Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim and Fulani, are killing Christians for mere reason of their religious identity.
Despite MURIC’s demand, the Amotekun continued to keep details of its acclaimed arrest shrouded in the cloud until the last National Security Council (NSC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari revealed that footprint of terrorism was found in the Church attack and vowed that the culprits would be arrested and brought to book.
The Ondo State Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) faulted the NSC report that was communicated via a press briefing jointly addressed by Minister of the Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, describing it as hasty.
But on Tuesday August 9, the Defence Headquarters gave human face to the effort of government and the security forces when it announced that four killers of the worshippers in Owo Church and one escapee of Kuje jail breaking had been arrested and none of them was a Fulani man.
While playing host to some media executives and editors in Abuja, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, announced this and listed their names, which Governor Akeredolu confirmed to be non-Fulani people as, ostensibly acting on realities from the arrest, he warned the Ebira in Ondo State against taking kidnapping as trade.
In an interview with The DEFENDER Sunday night, the Sariki Hausawa of Owo, Alhaji Nurudeen Abubakar, said those arrested by Amotekun which it claimed were the killers of the worshippers are Fulani people and that, since the military has now arrested the real killers and it is clear Amotekun’s claim was not correct, those innocent Fulani people must now be released.
“DSS called me day before yesterday, on Friday, and talked to me about the Fulani people arrested by Amotekun. They asked me how many of them and I told them they are three in number. Then they asked about their names and I called the Sariki Fulani, who gave me their names, and I gave them to the DSS.
“What they did to those Fulani is wrong because you already know the killers. Why then are you continuing to keep those Fulani people who are innocent? You must release them,” the Sariki Hausawa said.
It will be recalled that on Sunday June 5, 2022, the country was shocked by a terrorist attack that blew off in the process several worshippers of St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo in the South West state of Ondo.
The Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, few hours the attack, called it “a declaration of war on Yoruba race” and some Yoruba vernacular newspapers, amplified the ethnic angle scripted in the Afenifere’s statement by right on the spot wrapping it up as massacre committed by Fulani killer squad, although had no justification for allegations against the tribe other than social media rumours.
Owing to a thorough investigation by the armed forces and other security agencies, the suspects that perpetrated the heinous crime and those that harboured them are beginning to be exposed.
It should be noted that after the Owo massacre and the utterances by Afenifere leaders and some Yoruba vernacular newspapers, there were real and unreal claims of reprisal attack against some Fulani residents in the state, as many angry locals labelled them the killers.
However, the suspects arrested as announced by the military High Command on Tuesday August 9 were discovered to be Ebira, who are next immediate neighbours to the Yoruba South West state, and not Fulani, as speculated by many, who had failed to allow the security agencies do their work before jumping to conclusion.
In the meantime, when asked to comment, Sariki Fulani of Lagos and Chairman of Association of Fulani Chiefs in South West Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammed Bambado. has expressed concern that things went the way it went with Amotekun.
Speaking to The DEFENDER Sunday, the versatile Fulani leader, however, hinted that a press conference to itemise many killings and other crimes done by Yoruba persons to their fellow tribesmen and still blamed on Fulani.
The DEFENDER reports the Ekiti killing and kidnapping involving a notable victim, Alhaji Sulaiman Akinbami, whose perpetrators upon investigations and police arrest were publicly paraded as Yoruba sons of the land.
Alhaji Akinbami, in a media interview with Punch shortly after his release from the kidnappers’ den, was headlined as saying “My kidnappers are Yoruba people”.
Further investigations have also shown that the killing of Igangan, Oyo State politician and farmer, Honourable Fatai Borode, was by political elements. This was announced by the state Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, during a condolence visit.
A source, committed to national peace, unity and development, has called on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, to take note of how some traditional rulers are encouraging the ethnic profiling of criminals, when they are supposed to be united against terrorism while ensuring protection of rights of all Nigerians from across regions and religions living and doing business in their domain.
“It is hoped that the Sultan particularly will be attracted by this and let it be discussed and position is taken on it at the next meeting of National Traditional Rulers Council of Nigeria coming up in Abuja,” he said.
Compensation
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), reacting to the arrest of verifiable and identifiable suspected killers as contained in the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor’s announcement, expressed dismay that Fulani people had been wrongly blamed for killing the Christian church worshippers on that ill-fated Sunday.
In a statement by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, he urged Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to compensate and provide relief materials to the Fulani victims and others who were affected by the reprisal attack.
He also appealed to citizens to stop drawing hasty conclusions, arguing that, “There are criminals in all tribes just as there are decent people everywhere.”
The Professor went further to praise the military and security agencies for exposing the unscrupulous elements behind the attack.
MURIC said: “The Nigerian Armed Forces yesterday (Tuesday August 9) announced the arrest of those who attacked churchgoers at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday, 5th June, 2022. The attack resulted in the death of 40 worshippers.
“However, it is interesting to discover that contrary to the gargantuan mountain of blames heaped on Fulani herders over the attack, none of those arrested was a Fulani man. Rather, they are all from Okene, Kogi State.
“For instance, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu blamed the trilogy of Fulani, bandits and ISWAP. He said, ‘But whatever it is, we stand by the position that it’s a trilogy that is operating in our forests and causing havoc. We just have Fulani herdsmen right in front, followed by these bandits and again ISWAP; so, the three of them work together and they work separately (https://tribuneonlineng.com/fg-was-too-quick-to-blame-iswap-for-owo-church-attack-akeredolu/).
“The US Institute, Knoxville News Sentinel, swallowed Akeredolu’s bait by accusing the Nigerian Government of shielding herdsmen involved in the attack on worshippers in Owo church (https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2022/7/us-institute-accuses-nigerian-government-of-shielding-herdsmen-and-blaming-iswap-for-owo-attack.html).
“The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) was not left out as it blamed Fulani terrorists and accused FG of shielding herdsmen by accusing ISWAP of the horrendous attack (https://www.icirnigeria.org/owo-massacre-report-accuses-fg-of-shielding-herdsmen-by-blaming-terrorists/).
“Next came the Yoruba Alliance who said, ‘We hold Buhari responsible. He invited Fulani terrorists from across Africa into Nigeria.’ (https://hallmarknews.com/owo-massacre-we-hold-buhari-responsible-he-invited-fulani-from-across-africa-into-nigeria-yoruba-alliance/). The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) also linked the attack to ‘Fulani terrorists’ (https://dailypost.ng/2022/06/07/owo-massacre-ipob-reacts-to-attack-on-catholic-church-reveals-those-responsible/).
“Even Nairaland online media came out with a screaming headline, ‘Fulani terrorists behind Owo Church attack Arrested’ (https://www.nairaland.com/7170889/fulani-terrorists-responsible-owo-church).
“But surprisingly, none of those arrested is a Fulani as announced and paraded by the army yesterday, Tuesday, 9th August, 2022 (https://naijablog.ng/2022/08/10/photos-army-release-names-of-ebiras-all-from-okene-kogi-as-the-fulani-terrorist-that-attack-ondo-churches-chidi-cali/).
“We recall the spontaneous attacks on Northerners and their properties immediately after the church massacre, particularly in Ogwatoghose and Ikare areas of Ondo State. Now we can all see that the wrong and innocent people were attacked while the criminals got away. (https://newswirengr.com/2022/06/06/ondo-residents-attack-northerners-in-retaliation-for-owo-church-attack/).
“It behoves Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to appease the Fulani victims of the reprisal attacks. Those who lost properties should be compensated. Some form of relief should also be provided for families of those who were killed among them.
“MURIC appeals to Nigerians to be circumspect, to avoid jumping to conclusions and, most importantly, to stop ethnic profiling and hasty judgement. There are criminals in all tribes just as there are decent people everywhere. Tribes do not commit crime. It is individuals who do.
“MURIC commends the security agencies for unmasking those behind the massacre. Their task was herculean, yet they did Nigeria proud by getting results within reasonable time. They proved beyond any reasonable doubt that no arm of the security agencies is sleeping.
“We charge cynics to rekindle the fire of hope in Nigeria. We will get positive results if our attitude to our soldiers, the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) is positive. We can only reap what we sow. The security agencies need our cooperation because they are not magicians. They need information.
“We cannot expect our country to change by hating it. Neither can we expect peace by working against the security agents. We must stop demarketing our country. Nigeria is a great country by all standards if only we will open our eyes to behold its greatness. Others envy our country. We must not sell it off so cheaply.”
