Ogun State Government has denied insinuations it requested help from popular Yoruba rights activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho to tackle the menace of herdsmen killings.
Igboho stormed Ogun on Monday, February 1, 2021, declaring war on killer herdsmen across the State.
Yewa North and Yewa South in Ogun West Senatorial District have been the epicentres of herdsmen attacks, killings, maiming, and wanton destruction of farmlands.
Soldiers accompanied herdsmen to villages and communities in Ketu where they flogged indigenes for not allowing herdsmen graze on their farmland.
Speaking with his supporters at the Ita Oshin junction, Igboho said he was heading to Yewaland to flush out criminal herdsmen.
He said: “We observed there is injustice from the herdsmen because they are close to the FG. Any herdsman who engages in kidnapping should be flushed out.
“Not only Igangan, but we are also going to visit all Yorubaland. I am going to Yewa because that is where the Fulani are wrecking havoc.
“Let us thank the governor of the state. His love for people of Ogun State made him to allow us visit the state. If not for his love for the people of Ogun State, he would not have allowed us to come to the state.”
But the Government said it didn’t invite Igboho to flush out herdsmen.
Abdulwaheed Odusile, the commissioner for information and strategy, in a statement, said: “In the interview, Hon Hazzan had said that the state government, in its usual inclusive approach to governance, would continue to work with all the stakeholders, both within and outside the state, to ensure security of lives and properties.
‘’Sadly, however, this statement was disingenuously twisted to mean that the State had invited Adeyemo to help curb insecurity. This is regrettable and totally misleading.
“Prince Dapo Abiodun’s administration, since inception, has been known to be inclusive in its approach, always collaborating and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders.
“Security is no exception, resulting in the achievement of the enviable status and recognition as most secure state in the country by many organisations.”
He added: “For avoidance of doubt, Ogun State Government will continue to deploy all constitutionally sanctioned means to fight crimes and criminals in the state, including working with institutions that the constitution and other statutes have saddled with the responsibility of protection of lives and properties.
“At all times, the Government will ensure that all security agencies and indeed all stakeholders operate within the ambit of the law and will neither welcome nor endorse any initiative that amounts to self-help or is outside the contemplation of the constitution, which is the ground norm binding on all governments and persons in the country.”
Source: The Nation
