Sunday Igboho criticises Ooni for not telling Buhari the truth about Fulani herdsmen

YORUBA rights activist Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Igboho has criticised the Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi for not presenting a robust enough case about the Fulani cattle herdsmen menace during his recent meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Earlier this week, Oba Ogunwusi met with President Buhari is response to the ongoing spat across southwest Nigeria as local communities stepped up the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from their midst. Apart from the fact that the livestock destroy crops and rams, the heavily armed herdsmen are also involve in serious crimes such as kidnapping, rape, armed robbery and murder.

In Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mr Adeyemo has personally expelled the Fulani herdsmen there, forcing them to flee to neighbouring Kwara State. With the expulsion of the herdsmen growing in popularity, Mr Adeyemo has been invited to neighbouring states across the southwest, where he is now feted like a hero.

After his meeting with President Buhari, Oba Ogunwusi, urged Igboho not to take laws into his hands. According to the monarch, although Mr Adeyemo has done well to speak for the downtrodden, it was time he allowed the constituted authorities including the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, to take charge and handle the security challenges.

However, Igboho said some politicians were behind the Ooni’s latest move, adding that the monarch disappointed the Yoruba people by not speaking against the killer herdsmen in the region when he met with the president. He revealed that as a result, he declined an offer to meet with the Ooni at Ile-Ife.

Mr Adeyemo said: “The monarchs are now afraid but we must keep praying for them to be united with one voice. They should not be afraid of arrest at their age. Some of them don’t even grant audience at their palaces any longer, so, everything is now in God’s hands.

“When the Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, he should have told him the truth but he did not. When the Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. You can imagine that kind of talk?

“The Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter and I believe the Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the president the whole truth and make the demands of the Yoruba people known. The Ooni disappointed himself and some politicians are behind Ooni’s latest move.

"He invited me to his palace but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well but he did not. I won’t honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me. Enough is enough, the Fulani have done enough.”