‘Hunt The Assailants Down’, Akeredolu Declares War On The Owo Murderers
The Oasis Reporters
June 5, 2022
By Greg Abolo
Soon after the Igangan killings About one year ago, precisely June 6, 2021, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu tweeted on what he called:
IGANGAN PROVOCATIVE ONSLAUGHT ONE TOO MANY.
…we have directed the Commanders of the South West Security Network, Amotekun, to convoke a joint security meeting of all Commanders in the South West with a view to commencing joint operations in the region immediately
IGANGAN PROVOCATIVE ONSLAUGHT ONE TOO MANY.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 6, 2021
…we have directed the Commanders of the South West Security Network, Amotekun, to convoke a joint security meeting of all Commanders in the South West with a view to commencing joint operations in the region immediately. pic.twitter.com/Kgv0oy1yiL
Barely 24 hours to the one year anniversary of the security meeting convocation, death not only came to Ondo state that he governs, it cut deep to the bone. His home town was attacked by a shadowy militia who brazenly attacked defenseless people praying on Sunday morning in Church.
There’s a background to this story. Fulani herdsmen militia have been in Ondo bushes as well as other bushes of not only the South West but the entire South and the North. They came in as an invasive band under what was termed religious fervor to conquer the natives and convert them to their belief.
But it seemed more likely as a push for slave trade. Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s book made earth shaking revelations about how he and his community were captured by Fulanis and sold into slavery. He was lucky to have been rescued.
Later, colonial rule came and an essay by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa equally mentioned the same theme about what his tribe suffered in the hands of the Fulani.
But this stopped with the colonial administration for slavery stopped. And the people felt freer.
Further historical accounts narrate the moves of the British to stop this evil trade by capturing and jailing the Fulani Emirs who engaged in the illegal trade. Many of them were exiled to Lokoja where they stayed in confinement and they finally died there.
Decades down the line, evidence remains abundant that kidnappings for ransom are being perpetrated by Fulani people. School children, clergymen, women, men etc are being kidnapped for huge ransoms, like in the case of the Prelate the Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Kanu Uche, alongside the Bishop of Owerri Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark and the Prelate’s chaplain who were on Sunday last week, kidnapped in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia state.
They were freed after the payment of 100 million naira
The Prelate said that his kidnappers were armed Fulani bandits, and this happened despite the military cordon within the vicinity, hinting at a certain collusion with renegade men in military uniform.
And that some of the bandits spoke fluent Igbo. Just as the bandits in the South West equally speak perfect Yoruba. Sign that these were the descendants of the jihadists/slavers some 200 years ago whose fore parents could not find their way back to their homelands in upper West Africa after slavery was abolished. They remained in the bushes and reinvented themselves as kidnappers for ransom.
When their excesses became intolerable, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo State ordered them to quit the forests of the state. Then he refused to buckle despite interventions by high profile government officials of Fulani extraction.
This attack on his home town may be their retaliation over the order, if investigations prove that Fulani bandits were indeed behind the attack.
Coming after the murder of the daughter of the Afenifere leader about a year ago, photo images of the angry and resolute face of the governor, show that no threat of violence would break his resolve to deal with the security threat.
Arriving from Abuja.
I just arrived Owo from Abuja following the unfortunate attack on the people worshipping at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
I have received briefs from the Heads of Security agencies in the state. The assailants will be hunted down and they will pay for their crimes. pic.twitter.com/qIiydy2nh4
I am deeply saddened by the unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo, worshiping at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Today.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
The vile & satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom who have enjoyed relative peace over the years. pic.twitter.com/30fMbfnOxc
I commiserate with my people in Owo, particularly families of the those who lost their lives to this ugly and unfortunate attack.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
I extend my condolences to Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye as well as the Catholic Church.
I urge our people to remain calm and vigilant. Do not take laws into your hands. I have spoken to the heads of the security agencies. I have equally been assured that security operatives would be deployed to monitor and restore normalcy to Owo kingdom.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
As Owo mourns, the people of Nigeria mourn with them for this is one massacre of a people too many.
I sympathise with the victims' families, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, the people and the Government of Ondo State. I urge the Federal Government and Ondo State Government to do whatever is possible to ensure that perpetrators of the dastardly act are brought to book. -PO
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) June 5, 2022
How can Nigeria rescue itself from these shocking events ?
Photos: courtesy of @ArakunrinAkeredolu/Twitter
