The ban on Fulani herdsmen grazing cattle in Ekiti State is sending fear into the Fulanis resident in the state as their counterparts in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State have sent emissaries to appeal to Mr. Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State to “temper justice with mercy”.
The Fulani herdsmen, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, said that their business will certainly be affected following the governor’s ban on nomadic cattle grazing in the state.
National Mirror reports that the seriki of the Fulani in Ilorin, Alhaji Mahmood Ahmadu, said his members have no hand in the onslaught being launched against innocent Nigerians across the states especially in the South East and the Middle Belt.
The Fulani king said the attack on farmers by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Oke Ako Ekiti in the state last Friday, leading to the death of two persons has no connection with his people in the area.
Fayose had on Monday, banned opened nomadic cattle grazing in the state, even as he advised cattle farmers to create ranches where they could take care of their animals.
Following the directive of the governor, the seriki said his members in the affected communities had vacated the area for fear of their cattle being killed by the indigenes of the areas affected.
According to him, he had 100,000 members in the state, adding that those in the communities affected had vacated the areas.
Leader of the Fulani Ilorin said that his members had over three million cattle across the 16 council areas of the state, saying restricting them would bring their businesses to a halt.
Ahmadu promised that his people would join hands with the governor to bring the perpetrators of the nefarious act to book and to secure the state and prevent it from being attacked by killer herdsmen.
