*300 homes burnt down
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
If the infornation reaching us from Iganna community about invasion of Fulani settlement in the area, which is believed to be premeditated, is anything to go by, it means there is nothing yet to celebrate about security and safety of all Nigerians regardless of tribes and religions in Oyo State.
Iganna is a community in Iwajowa Local Government Area of Oyo State and is 30 minutes drive from Iseyin in the Oke Ogun zone of the state, with its traditional institution headed by the Sabiganna of Iganna Land, His Royal Majesty Oba Azeez Soliu Oyemonla, the permanent Chairman of Iwajowa Local Government Traditional Council and a permanent member of Oyo State Council of Obas.
Fillers from the state have it that 11 Fulani people including a pregnant woman in labour and small children were killed in the attacks during which 300 of their houses were also burnt down.
Although details of the attacks were yet to be available as at the time of filing this report, however, we gathered that the sad event had happened since nine days ago without the authorities, mainly Oyo State government and security agencies, either talking or taking action about it.
Impeccable sources said the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, the state police command and other security agencies are aware of the development.
We also gathered the bewilderment of some Fulani leaders outside of Oyo State, who are asking to know why there has been no singular mention of the massacre of that magnitude in the Nigerian press until now.
One of them said, “I am seriously suspecting that the silence over this massacre is confirmation that the Fulani people have been unjustly killed. But we are working hard to get our facts in order to ensure that what we have is nothing but the truth, by the time we will begin to talk about it,” he said.
Pictures and videos from the attacks are too gorry for the sight to behold and cannot be posted in publication.
We gathered that an unnamed chief, simply called the Balogun of Iganna,, swore by Ogun the ‘god of iron’ and threatened in the presence of a deeputy commissioner of police that the attacks were just a beginning as more would come.
The boast of the alleged Balogun and attempted lynch of the Fulani leaders in presence of the top security officers made the case look beyond control of the commissioner of police, we were told.
The assailants were said to have claimed that they killed their victims because an indigenous farmer was beaten in the farm by some Fulani herdsmen, a claim that was said to have since been dismissed as there was no report at any police station.
Their claim that the allegedly beaten Yoruba farmer had been admitted in a Saki hospital has also been dismissed as, according to our sources, the police had gone to the hospital and found no such person.
One of our sources has, in the meantime, described the claim of the identified Iganna assailants as calculated plan to find justification for their massacre of the settlers.
When contacted Friday afternoon, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police simply redirected The DEFENDER to “please call the PRO to speak to you on it”.
We put a text across to the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Adewale Osifeso, on Saturday to comment on the attacks. “Please comment on the killings of defenceless women, kids and men at Fulani settlement in Iganna for our charity (clarity) of report. We ho (go) to press this morning. Thank you,” our text read.
In his appreciatiably swift response to our text, the PPRO also redirected us to Abuja as he said the information should be sourced from the Force PRO. “Good Morning Sir! Kindly reach out to the Force Public Relations Officer for this inquiry, please.”
The Force PRO, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, who also responded to our text on the matter, declined to comment as he insisted that it was the responsibility of Oyo State Commissioner of Police to speak on it.
“No. Its not our responsibility to speak on it. CP oyo can speak to it. So, oyo command will act. At least u have been noticing that CPs speak more on cases in their AOR. Oyo command will speak,” Loui”s Edet House said in the Adejobi’s series of texts.
Details later…..
