Fulani herdsmen and hoodlums Invade farm settlement in Ibadan

By Ola Ajayi Ibadan—AS controversy to find grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen across the country continues, some hoodlums, including herdsmen, on Tuesday night, invaded a farm belonging to a former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Mr. Ayodele Adigun and forced settlers in the place to flee their residence. Armed Fulani-herdsmen According to sources, the invaders stormed the farm settlement at Lagun, in Lagelu Local Government area of the state around 9pm with dangerous weapons. According to eyewitnesses, the intruders were not only Fulani herdsmen as some of them reportedly spoke in pidgin English, Fulani and Yoruba. Vanguard learned that the suspects numbering about 20 were armed with AK-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons. Two of the residents, Haruna Usman and Olanipekun Ogunkolade said the hoodlums had two sophisticated guns each while robbing them of their valuables. They said items such as phones, money, shoes and foodstuffs were carted away  by the intruders. One of the victims, Mr Jimmy Adedokun who sustained gunshot injuries on his hands and legs was admitted at a hospital in Iwo, Osun State. Narrating the attack, Ogunkolade said “when they arrived at 9pm yesterday night (Tuesday), they ransacked everywhere and shot Jimmy after dispossessing him of his weapons. They took garri from us, and drank it. One of us just prepared a fish soup and eba but the invaders ate everything.” The farm manager, Mr. Emmanuel said the incident was the first occurrence since they settled on the farm settlement. When asked who the suspects could be, he said, “we suspected that the invaders are Fulani herdsmen because they wore shoes like herdsmen and they spoke Fulani and pidgin English. Earlier in the day, they had mounted roadblocks at Lagun on Ibadan – Iwo Road. We learnt that they robbed the road users early in the morning and at night. We sighted over 50 Fulani herdsmen moving from one community to another in this place on the grounds that they wanted to buy Indian hemp.” The owner of the farm, Mr. Adigun said residents of the settlement had run for dear life and had relocated to another place noting that “to me, the invasion of the farm was a ploy to permanently sack the farmers from the community so that they could take over and use the farm as grazing field.”