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Miyetti Allah Enjoins Makinde To Release Fulani Herdsmen Nabbed With Firearms
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association has called on Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde to release clutch of Fulani herdsmen allegedly arrested with firearms by security operatives in the state.
Ekohotblog reports that the leader of the association in the State, Ibrahim Jiji, made the call on Monday while addressing newsmen in the state capital, Ibadan.
At least 47 armed herders were arrested on Sunday by ‘Operation Burst,’ a Joint Security Task Force in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state.
According to the Oyo state police command, the gunmen were rounded up at Ofiki River along Tapa/Igangan Road in Ibarapa.
It disclosed that the gunmen, who are currently being remanded at State Criminal Investigation Department in Ibadan, claimed to be after kidnappers in the area when arrested.
The police, however, refuted the claim of the herdsmen, alleging that they were on revenge mission, spurred by the fit of retaliation following the deadly invasion of kidnappers’ hideouts in the local government by men of the state Security Network Agency codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun.’
At least three people were killed in the raid which was conducted by Amotekun in collaboration with local hunters, vigilantes and Miyetti Allah.
Jide Ajani, a spokesman to Governor Makinde, had dismissed assertion that the operation was targeted at the Fulanis, while strongly stating that only criminals lost their lives in the raid.
The Oyo chairman of Miyetti Allah has, nonetheless, maintained that the arrested 47 herdsmen were not criminals.
He disclosed that the gunmen of Fulani stock were vigilantes dispatched by the association to consolidate the efforts of Amotekun in addressing security concerns in Ibarapa.
Read Also: We Are Probing Alleged High-Handedness Of Amotekun Corps – Makinde
“They invited us (Miyetti Allah) to a meeting in Ibadan where they told us that they needed our support to fight insecurity in Ibarapa area; so we told them that we are going to give them 50 among our vigilantes who are Fulanis.
“Those people are not criminals but they are the people securing us. They are registered vigilantes and they are working with police and other security agencies,” he stated, while appealing to the state government to release the suspects from custody.
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