08022021 - Gunmen on rampage in Kaduna, Delta, Taraba, FCT

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021
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APC'll continue to rule in Ondo
for a long time
—Akeredolu
By Dayo Johnson
A KURE—GOVERNOR
Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo
State, yesterday, expressed
optimism that the All Progressives
Congress, APC, would continue
to govern the state for a long time
to come.
Akeredolu said this while
laying the foundation of the new
APC State Secretariat Complex
in Akure.
The governor said: “Our party
will continue to occupy a prime
place in the political landscape of
Ondo State for a long time to
come, due to the stellar
performance of the APC-led
administration in the state in the
last four years, despite daunting
challenges and paucity of funds,
occasioned by the prevailing
global economic realities.
Late Gen
Williams was a
patriotic, core
professional
—Olanrewaju
By Gabriel Olawale
L Minister
AGOS—FORMER
of
Communications, Maj. Gen.
Tajudeen Olanrewaju (retd),
yesterday, described the late Brig-
Gen. Olufemi Williams (retd), as
a patriot, gentleman and core
professional who fought during
the civil war with zeal, passion
and with the noblest of
dedication.
Olanrewaju recalled how he
crossed paths with Olufemi in
1967, when there was the general
mobilisation of personnel to fill the
shortfall in depleted officers’ cadre
in the Nigerian Army.
The former Communications
minister, in a statement, said:
“Olufemi and I, with few others,
came together to represent the
newly created Lagos State. Out
of hundreds called for the
interview at the Arakan Military
Barracks in Apapa, only five of us
were successful.
“Femi and I were course mates
at the NDA in Kaduna, where
our friendship as young
professionals and pioneering
Lagosians in uniform deepened.?
“We are only beginning with
the State Headquarters. Be sure
that on completion of this project,
erecting such edifice across the
18 Local Government Areas in
the State will follow.
“As the largest and the ruling
party in the state, it behooves us
to have a secretariat befitting of
that status.
“You will recall that our party
has been operating from rented
apartments since its inception.
“I am sure that by the time the
secretariat complex is built, it will
be the pride of all party faithful.
“We hope that before the end
of the year, we shall celebrate the
completion of this project.”
In his remarks, the acting
chairman of the party, Mr. Ade
Adetimehin hailed Governor
Akeredolu for his unparalleled
performance which he said
earned the APC victory in the
last October 10, 2020
governorship election.
Marauding herdsmen have launched guerrilla
warfare on Yorubaland —Agbekoya, Afenifere
By Dapo Akinrefon,
James Ogunnaike &
Olayinka Ajayi
L Agbekoya AGOS—THE
Farmers'
Association and the Yoruba
Socio-Political organisation
Afenifere, yesterday, raised
the alarm that marauding
herdsmen have launched
guerrilla warfare on
Yorubaland, but vowed to
flush out the culpable
herdsmen terrorizing the
South-West.
They also disclosed that
it had begun a manhunt for
the killer herdsmen's
kingpin, known as
Mahmoud Waziri, and his
men, who terrorise farmers
and residents in Ibarapa
local government area of
Oyo State.
This came on a day the
Chief Press Secretary to
Governor Seyi Makinde of
Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa,
warned against the
growing false security
alarms in the form of fake
audio and video posts on
social media, declaring that
MEETING—From left: Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Chairman, All Progressives
Congress, APC, Membership Revalidation/Registration Committee, Senator John Danboi; Secretary
of the committee, Marie Idaomi Esq; Senators Yahya Oloriegbe (Central), Sadiq Umar (North), and
Lola Ashiru (South), during the party's stakeholders' meeting, at the State Banquet Hall, in Ilorin,
weekend.
• Stop using false social media in security situation —Makinde’s aide
• Don't harbour strangers, Ogun monarch cautions subjects
• War is at the door —Afenifere
residents of the state
should ignore such
contents.
Similarly, the Olu of Oba
Eerin in Obafemi/Owode
council area of Ogun State,
Oba Ganiyu Sanyaolu,
yesterday, warned his
subjects against harbouring
strangers especially,
herders looking for a place
of abode, following their
forceful ejection from
Ibarapa area of Oyo State.
Marauding
herdsmen have
launched
guerrilla warfare
on Yoruba land
— Agbekoya
Agbekoya, in a statement
by its National Publicity
Secretary, Chief Olatunji
Bandele, stated that the
President-General of the
association, Chief
Kamorudeen Okikiola,
stated that after the exit of
Seriki Fulani from Igangan,
another kingpin,
Mahmoud Waziri,
emerged in the town with
his men, unleashing terror
on innocent citizens and
killing farmers in the area.
Chief Okikiola said two
farmers, who were working
on their farms, were killed
in two locations in the area
during an ambush laid on
them by the killer
herdsmen, while some
escaped to the town to alert
the people of the
community. The statement
read: “The Kingpin,
Mahmoud, regrouped the
killer herdsmen and
bandits, armed them with
dangerous weapons to
retaliate the exit of Seriki
Fulani from Igangan who
is now living in a village in
Kwara State. Though the
kingpin is now on the run,
his killer herdsmen are
perpetrating havoc, killing
farmers and innocent
citizens in Ibarapa area of
Oyo State. Agbekoya will
not relent until all these Fulani
criminals terrorizing Yoruba land
are flushed out.” The farmers’
body, however, called on farmers
in the South-West to avoid going
to their farms alone, but “should
make sure that they go to their
farms in groups ready to counter
any sudden attack by the Fulani
bandits and killer herdsmen.
“The killer herdsmen have
launched guerrilla warfare on
Yoruba land and we should be
alert and be very strategic in
dislodging them wherever they
are located in the South-West. We
are using this medium to call on
other security stakeholders,
traditional rulers, Southwest
governors, politicians and Yoruba
leaders to rise to face the
insecurity situation in the region.
We are also calling on the
Northern governors and leaders
to take positive steps in calling
the killer herdsmen and Fulani
bandits terrorizing Southwest to
order because if the situation
persists, Agbekoya will not
hesitate to launch a full-scale war
against herdsmen, kidnappers
and bandits”, Agbekoya
president said.
War is at the door
–Afenifere
Speaking on the development,
the Publicity Secretary of
foremost Pan Yoruba group,
Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin,
explained that the persistent
attacks by the marauding
herdsmen on the region were a
clear indication that the region
was at war.
Odumakin said: “The adamant
and persistent attacks by
herdsmen on Yorubaland are
clearly a grand war on
the Yoruba nation, and it's only
the ostriches that would bury
their heads in the sand at the
moment. War is at our door.”
Stop using false
social media in
security
situation
—Makinde’s aide
Meanwhile, Governor
Makinde’s aide warned against
raising false alarms on the
security situation in Ibarapaland
and parts of Oke-Ogun, adding
that security agencies will readily
deal with anyone seeking to
cause ethnic tension.
Adisa, in a statement, said:
“The penchant of certain
individuals, groups and faceless
bodies to take to social media and
raise the unfounded alarm just
to cause panic among the people
of Oyo State is becoming a cause
for concern.”
He particularly said some viral
social media video and audio
messages in which false and
inciting claims were made about
Ayete, Igangan, and other parts
of the state have been on the
rise in recent weeks.
The statement read: “Our
attention has been drawn to a
grand plot to precipitate unrest
in Oyo State through the use of
fake news in the social media.
This plot seeks to promote false
alarms, misinformation and
sponsored fake news through
audio, video and Facebook
messages and it is to make the
state ungovernable.
“As a government, the contents
of some of these audio and video
releases have been investigated
and mostly found to be outright
falsehood, baseless claims and
products of hate speech, targeted
only at discrediting the
government and inciting the
people.
“As a proactive government,
the Makinde-led administration
has risen to the occasion on the
issue of insecurity and we are
already winning the war against
criminality, with several measures
rolled out to tackle kidnapping
and banditry in Ibarapa and some
parts of Oke-Ogun, while efforts
have also been increased to tame
the violent gang wars in Ibadan.”
Don't harbour
strangers, Ogun
monarch
cautions
subjects
Similarly, the Ogun monarch
said the call became necessary,
following a viral video alleging
that some herdsmen, who were
forcibly sent away by youths of
Ibarapa in Oyo State, have
started erecting structures in the
agrarian town.
Oba Sanyaolu stated that the
viral video has created palpable
fears in the minds of residents and
visitors of the town.
Findings by Vanguard revealed
that some herders were seen
along the roads leading to Oba
town, the community that hosts
the new Abeokuta Correctional
facility and Moshood Abiola
Polytechnic.
It was also gathered that some
of them have already erected
structures and cleared bushes
around the major roads leading
to the town.
Some residents of Oba and
Alagada, who spoke to
Vanguard, said the presence of
the herders was noticed some
days ago when they saw tractors
clearing some farmlands around
Alagada village, about 200 meters
to the new Abeokuta Correctional
facility, adding that within three
days, about 20 huts, typical of
Fulani abodes have started
springing up.
Oba Sanyaolu, while speaking
with some journalists in his
palace, said some youths have
already gone to the herders,
accosted them and shared the
video clip of their encounters to
the people, thereby creating
tension in the minds of the
people.
The monarch said: “To avert
any crisis that may erupt
thereafter, I have called some
people that I know who facilitated
the coming of these herders to a
meeting where I instructed them
to do the needful.”