The Oyo State Government has deployed over 200 operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, to go after Fulani herder said to be notorious, Iskilu Wakili.
Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of the state, Seyi Makinde, disclosed this on Thursday at a virtual town hall meeting.
According to him, operatives of the security outfit have been deployed in the Ibarapa area of the state and are currently on the field confronting criminal elements in the crisis-torn area.
It was gathered that farmers and residents in Ayete, a town in Ibarapa live in perpetual fear of the Fulani warlord, Wakili, who has been accused of terrorising the people and displacing them from their farms.
The farmers said they assumed the eviction of the Seriki Fulani, Abdulkadir Saliu, from Igangan, also in Ibarapaland, was the end to Fulani herdsmen oppression but Wakili only waxed stronger as he mounted a no cross-zone on farms with the eviction of Saliu in a bid to send warnings to the people of the town that he cannot be evicted. They also alleged that Wakili shot farmers who trespassed his no cross-zone.
According to reports, Wakili, whose origin the villagers don’t know, is said to be more infamous than the ejected Seriki Fulani. He also reportedly works with dozens of herders who are his disciples. Together with his battalion, they allegedly seized hectares of farmlands at Ayete, raped the women in the town, and kidnapped their rich men for ransoms.
When asked what the state government was doing about Wakili, Adisa said the notorious herder had fled his ‘territory’ known as ‘Iga Wakili’ in the Ayete area of Ibarapaland.
He said, “As to whether Seriki Igangan and Iskilu will be invited for questioning, yes, why not? Because investigation is ongoing and some people have been invited and when any of them is mentioned as having contributed to the kidnap or killing of one person or the other, security operatives have to go after any of them that is involved and they will be dealt with.”
The governor’s aide also said, “Amotekun Corps is already deployed to face anybody whether it is Wakili or Seriki that wants to misbehave.
“The Amotekun (operatives) in Ibarapaland have already been deployed. They are not in the barracks, they have been deployed on the roads, at the black spots in Ibarapaland and Oke-Ogun axes. Operations are ongoing as to how to tackle whether it is Wakili or any other criminal around that axis.”
