Fayose warns Fulani herdsmen over attack on Ekiti communities, says; “we will protect our people”

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose
has warned that there could be reprisal
attacks on Fulani herdsmen in the State
if they do not desist from invading
communities in Ekiti and attacking the
people, describing the Fulani herdsmen
that invaded Oke Ako in Ikole local
government area of the State on Friday,
killing two residents of the town and
injuring others as “agents of the devil
that must be fished out and punished
accordingly.”
Governor Fayose, who commiserated with the
people of Oke-Ako, especially the family of the
deceased, vowed to do everything humanly
possible to forestall the reoccurrence of such
attack and safeguard the lives of Ekiti people.
According to a statement issued by his Special
Assistant on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said the
Fulani herdsmen were becoming major threat to
the unity of Nigeria and its people, saying; “I will
not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade
communities in Ekiti, killing people and
destroying farmlands at will as they have done
in other States. “I have directed the police and
other security agencies in the State to fish out
the killer herdsmen. I am in constant touch with
the security agencies and I hope that the killer
herdsmen will be fished out wherever they are
and made to face the full wrath of the law.
“The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain
calm while the security agents do their job.
However, the security agents must be mindful of
the fact that the people’s patience has a limit
and they must therefore act promptly and
decisively.” The governor, who described
activities of the Fulani Herdsmen as inimical to
the revival of agriculture in the country said;
“Farmlands costing billions of naira have been
destroyed in States in the South-West, South-
East and North-Central zones of the country.
One wonders how Nigerians can go back to
farming when those already in the farms are
losing billions of naira worth of crops to
destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani
Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not
doing anything about it.” He said; “I am
sounding a note of warning to the Fulani
herdsmen and those who can talk to them
should also do so now. If they continue with
these wanton attacks, killing of the people and
destruction of farmlands in Ekiti, I cannot
guarantee that there won’t be reprisal attacks. “I
can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal
attacks can get to because as a governor, it is
my responsibility to defend and protect my
people.”
He called on President Mohammadu Buhari to
stop paying lips service to the Fulani herdsmen's
menace, saying "as patron of the Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria
(MACBAN), President Buhari has the capacity to
call the herdsmen to order. “President Buhari
should therefore call his people to order because
this is Ekiti; our people have the rights to defend
themselves. “Most importantly, President Buhari
must be reminded of how he was so concerned
about the killing of Fulani herdsmen in in Saki,
Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State such that he, as a
private citizen led Arewa to Ibadan on October
13, 2000, to confront the then Governor of Oyo
State, late Alhaji Lam Adesina.”