• Says, ‘we’ll protect our people’

From Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti

EKITI State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has warned there could be reprisal on Fulani herds­men if they failed to stop invading and attacking the people and communi­ties in Ekiti.

Fayose described the herdsmen who invaded Oke-Ako in Ikole Local Government Area on Fri­day, killing two residents of the town and injuring others as “devil agents who 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 possible to fore­stall the re-currence of such attack and safeguard the lives of Ekiti people.

Fayose said the herds­men were becoming a major threat to the unity of Nigeria and its people­and added: “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.

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“I have directed the police and other security agencies in the state to fish out the killer herds­men. 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 described activities of the herds­men as inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country, saying: “Farmlands costing bil­lions of naira have been destroyed in states in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country.

“I am sounding a note of warning to the 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 reprisals.

“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.”