The Seriki Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir who was evicted from his Igangan palace four months ago has denied media reports that he was behind the fresh attack on Igangan community in Ibarapa area of Oyo State.
The Seriki who also condemned the attacks tasked thesecurity agencies to do their job in arresting the perpetrators of the attacks.
Abdulkadir who spoke in reaction to the comment by the Asigangan of Igangan, Oba Lasisi Adeoye accusing him of masterminding Sunday’s attacks on Igangan where suspected herders killed scores of farmers said it was wrong to have linked the attack with him.
He said many herders also suffered casualties during theattacks and even said one Fulani man who was neither a cattle reaer nor traderand who has been living in Igangan since 60s was killed on Monday in reprisalattack on several Fulani settlements.
The Seriki stressed that he has no hand in the attacks andhas no any mercenary anywhere to attack the people on his behalf.
He said since he was evicted from the community by armedyouth led by Sunday Igboho, he has lost many of his people, properties and allhis investments.
The evicted Seriki who is currently in Ilorin, Kwara State,blamed the attack on failure of security agencies, saying if the securityagencies had been proactive and up and doing, such would not have occurred.
He however tasked them to go after the perpetrators.
Abdulkadir insisted that the unrest in Ibarapa was worsened by ethnic profiling where only Fulani herders were tagged as criminals.
He said on many occasions, the Yoruba people were arrestedfor kidnapping and other criminalities in Ibarapa zone but their arrests nevergot prominence because they are not Fulani.
He said since his eviction in January, Fulani herders havebeen living in fears in the communities in Ibarapa including Aiyete, Tapa andIgangan, adding that he has advised those who are afraid to flee for their livesand refrain from taking the laws into their hands.
The Seriki called on the Federal Government to intervene in the happenings in Ibarapa zone, saying while the state government is doing its part to restore peace to the warring communities, it requires the support ofthe federal government to achieve lasting peace in the zone.
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