- 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.
“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.”