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Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020 — 11
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DONATION—Senator Ibikunle Amosun (centre) in company of the Controller of Prisons, Victor
Benson, acknowledges cheers from the correctional inmates, when he visited the Ibara Centre to
donated food items, as part of the activities marking his 62nd Birthday anniversary, yesterday.
Photo: Wunmi Akinola.
Ogun communities protest incessant
attacks, destruction by herdsmen
By James
Ogunnaike
A BEOKUTA—
HUNDREDS of
farmers from over 12
villages in Oja Odan
community in Yewa North
Local Government Area of
Ogun State, yesterday,
protested the incessant
attacks and destruction of
their farms by herdsmen
and their cattle.
The farmers who took
their protest to the Palace
of the Eselu of Iseluland,
Oba Akintunde Akinyemi,
alleged that they have also
lost farm produce worth
millions of naira to the over
8,000 herds of cattle that
routinely graze on their
farms.
They added that one of
them was killed, last week,
by violent herdsmen, who
also cut off one of the hands
of the murdered man’s son.
Speaking on behalf of the
protesting farmers, the
Jagun Oba of Iseluland,
Chief Festus Olabode
Aina, said the herdsmen
were intruders from
Republic of Niger and
Chad.
Aina urged the monarch
to convey their plights to
the state and federal
governments for urgent
intervention, expressing
fear that there could be
bloodshed as witnessed in
2007, if the 'peace loving
villagers’ patience' thins out
and they resort to self
defence.
He added that the
available stream that
supplies them water for
drinking and domestic
purposes has been
polluted with cow dungs.
He stressed that their
women and daughters also
suffer dehumanisation,
abuse and humiliation in
the hands of herdsmen.
Responding, Oba
Akinyemi lauded the
farmers for their peaceful
conduct and advised them
to continue to be calm,
adding that they should not
take the laws into their
hands.
While assuring them that
their message would be
communicated to the
government, the monarch
lamented that the herders
returned to the community
in large numbers when the
Benin Republic soldiers
vent their anger on them
over the border closure and
sent them packing from
their country.
Speaking with newsmen,
the Eselu appealed to the
government to intervene.
“Ever since I have been on
the throne, this has always
been a problem we have
been trying to tame but
because of the
stubbornness of these
herdsmen, they find it
difficult to tame them.
“The problem has
become more tedious
because many of them are
from Benin Republic and
Niger. My people are
saying they can’t take it any
more. The soldiers in
Republic of Benin chased
the herdsmen out and they
now saw our community as
Amotekun: APC chieftain tasks S/West govs
to ensure workability
LAGOS—A member of
the Lagos Governor’s
Advisory Council, GAC,
Chief Lanre Razak, has
thrown his weight behind
the South-West security
outfit codenamed:
'Operation Amotekun',
saying its establishment
was long overdue for
security of lives and
property in the zone.
Speaking in Lagos
yesterday, the chieftain of
the All Progressives
Congress, APC, however,
asked the South-West
Governors, who initiated
the move to do everything
possible within the law to
ensure its workability
because of its importance to
the security of the citizenry.
Razak said the security
situation in the country
calls for more hands on
deck to complement
Federal Government’s
efforts at curbing the
menace, adding that
Amotekun is not out to
usurp the duties of the
regular security agencies in
the country.
According to him, since
bandits and criminals are
not spirits but humans
living within the
community, it would be
easier for the local outfit to
identify them and their
hideouts, fish them out and
hand them over to the
regular security agencies
for appropriate actions.
an alternative.
“They are now destroying
our crops, raping our
women, maiming our men
among others. So, as a
matter of fact, I am
appealing to the
government to please come
to the aid of my people as a
matter of urgency.”
The Ogun State Police
Command said it is aware
of the community’s protest
and assured that there
would be security beef up
in the area to support those
already on ground to
ensure safety for the
villagers and farmers.
Speaking through the
Command’s Public
Relations Officer, Abimbola
Oyeyemi, it added that the
Police would continue to
put measures in place to
prevent breakdown of law
and order in that part of the
state.
Osun approves Prince Oyetunde
Ojo as new Olona of Ada
O SOGBO—THE
State Executive
Council, at its meeting of
Monday, January 27,
2020, approved the
appointment of Prince
(Dr) Oyetunde
Olumuyiwa Ojo as the
Olona of Ada in Boripe
North Local Council
Development Area of the
State. The stool became
vacant with the demise
of Oba Abimbola
Olalekan, Abioye II on
4th April, 2019.
The Olona of Ada stool
has a 1981 registered
Chieftaincy Declaration
and the newly appointed
Olona hails from the
Adeitan Ruling House
which is the next in the
order of rotation to
occupy the stool. The
new Olona of Ada is a
member of the State
Council of Obas and his
appointment brings the
number of monarchs
approved by the Oyetola
administration to five.
2023 Presidency: I’ll make my
intentions known soon —Bode
George
By Dapo
Akinrefon
L AGOS—FORMER
Deputy National
Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
Chief Olabode George,
yesterday, said he would
soon declare his intentions
on whether or not he would
contest the 2023
presidential election.
George, who said he has
the requisite knowledge
and experience to make the
country better, spoke when
some youth groups paid
him a solidarity visit at his
Lugard office in Lagos.
According to George,
many Nigerians mooted
the idea of presidency to
him but he said he is still
keeping his cards to his
chest
The PDP chieftain, who
disclosed that pressure is
being mounted on him to
run in 2023, noted that he
is more focused on
stabilising and uniting the
country.
His words: “Yes, people
mooted that idea of
FG Agric programme: Choice of
Ogun, testimony of our policy on
agriculture —Abiodun
By James
Ogunnaike
A BEOKUTA—OGUN
State Governor, Prince
Dapo Abiodun has
described the choice of the
state to pioneer the Federal
Government programme
on agriculture in the South-
West region of the country
as a testimony to his
administration’s policy on
agriculture, which he said
was aimed at ensuring food
security and provision of
employment.
Abiodun, who stated this
while receiving the
Minister of Agriculture,
Alhaji Mohammed Sabo
Nanono in his office at Oke-
Mosan, Abeokuta, said the
state has potentials for the
cultivation of food and cash
presidential or no presidential
but I keep my card to
my chest. People mooted it,
initially we played and
laughed over it but you see
2023 is a long haul from
now and if people are
wishing you well and are
showing such good things
to you, you don’t deflect it
but time will tell.”
Urging focus on addressing
the challenges facing
the county, he continued:
“We know there are managers
now. Our major concern
should be what role
are they playing? How well
are they managing the resources
of the country?
“2023 is still a long time
from now, that is about three
years from now. Who
knows who would even be
alive by then? So, let us do
the needful first and
stabilize the platform on
which you are going to
move.
“So, I want to thank those
who have mooted the idea
of presidency and those
who have spoken about it,
but it is not tomorrow, it is
not next week."
crops including cocoa,
cotton, and palm oil among
others.
Alhaji Nanono had
earlier told the governor
that the state has been
chosen to serve as a pioneer
in the South-West for the
Federal Government
mechanisation programme
for the production of cocoa
and rice in the country.
According to the
Minister, “Ogun is one of
the states in the South-West
that we have interest in, in
two vital areas of cocoa, rice
production and also in
agricultural mechanisation
which is going to affect 632
local government areas
across the country. We will
consider Ogun as one of the
states that will be the
pioneer in the South-West,”
he noted.