Three farmers killed as bandits attack Ondo community

 Akin Olotu, senior special assistant on agriculture to Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, says three farmers have been killed following an attack on a community in the state.

Olotu told TheCable that the incident occurred at Ijugbere axis of Owo local government area (LGA) of Ondo on Saturday night.

While condemning the incident, he said those criticising the governor for issuing a seven-day ultimatum to herders should be charged as accomplices in the attack.

“Three farmers were killed on Saturday night here at Ijugbere. The place is gradually becoming like Zamfara,” he said.

“Those accusing the governor of ordering illegal occupants of the forest to vacate the place should be charged as accomplices. They should bury their heads in shame.”

The development comes a few days after two people lost their lives when bandits attacked operatives of the Ondo state security network agency, also known as Amotekun, in the same local government area.

In January, Akeredolu had issued a seven-day quit notice to herdsmen operating illegally in the state’s forest reserves.

Apart from ejecting the herdsmen, the governor also banned underage grazing, night grazing, and movement of cattle within the cities and on highways.

The eviction notice generated varied reactions, and after a meeting with different stakeholders, Akeredolu asked herdsmen to register with the government for proper identification.

- THECABLE

LORI IRO !!! #OccupyLekki: Govt ensured protesters’ rights were protected, says Lagos attorney-general

 

Moyosore Onigbanjo, attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Lagos, says the state government ensured that the rights of the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters were not breached.

In a video that went viral on Saturday, the protesters, who were demonstrating against the resumption of operations at the Lekki tollgate, were arrested and crowded inside what appeared to be a van, with many of them half-naked.

The youths were later charged to court, and granted bail.

Speaking on Sunday when he featured on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, the attorney-general condemned the brutalisation of the protesters, adding that the police will give account of what happened at the tollgate on Saturday.

He also noted that the state derives no joy in seeing people harassed, adding that the government’s responsibility is to maintain law and order.

“Your right to protest only extends to where the other person’s right to his own freedom of association and movement starts,” he said.

“We condemn any act of brutality and dehumanisation on the part of the police or anybody for that matter. There are three ways to address this. Firstly, is for the commissioner of police himself to set up what is known as an orderly room trial.

“Secondly, if investigation reveals that any police officer abused their authority, and these facts are sent to the DPP’s office, and the DPP says that the policeman or woman has a case to answer, appropriate charges will be filed.

“The third leg of it, even these citizens who claimed that they were brutalised also have the option to sue the police to court for this act which they alleged. 

“In Nigeria, if you are arrested on a Friday, you are probably going to end up in a police station or whatever detention till the next week, but we made sure that the court sat late on Saturday to ensure that people that were arrested were released to go home.

“I think that in itself showed the intention of the state government to ensure that rights are protected on both sides. The state government is there for people who support it and people who don’t support it. We are bound by the law and we ensure that the law is carried out to the letter.

“It could have been very easy to say court will not sit till Monday, but we did not do that. We chose to get a magistrate there through the mobile court. We chose to get prosecutors there, and they were granted bail and all of them released. It is another thing that could have happened. They could have been granted bail and they say, ‘it is a Saturday evening, the paper work cannot be concluded till Monday.’

“But that didn’t happen, because we’re hellbent on ensuring that nobody’s right is trampled upon.”

- THECABLE

CDHR: Cattle rearing is a profitable private business… owners should bear cost of ranching

 

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has condemned the crisis resulting from clashes between herders and farmers, and urged cattle owners to be more responsible for their businesses.

In a communique issued after the meeting of its national executive council (NEC) over the weekend, the organisation accused cow owners of deceiving the country, stating that since cattle rearing is a private business, they should bear the cost of ranching.

Governors across the country have expressed interest to implement the national livestock plan, which also covers adoption of ranching systems across states.

However, according to the CDHR, it is not government’s duty to cover the cost of ranching systems for cattle owners, since it is a “profitable private business”.

“If cow owners want ranches, they should acquire the land through purchase,” the communique reads.

“The CDHR appreciates that conflict of interest prevents President Buhari and his rich Fulani and other cow owing friends of his, from championing the human rights of the herdsmen; that it suits their pockets to put forward arguments that it is a cultural way of life that no outsider should interfere in. The CDHR is committed to this and calls on all Nigerians and men and women of goodwill to make this matter top priority.

“With proper orientation, the herdsman who is a worker, should come to understand that for the cow owners, cattle rearing is profitable private business. Consequently, feeding the cows is a business expense which the owners of the cows must bear, just like other business persons who own poultry farms and fish ponds.

“CDHR is resolved that cow owners must not be allowed to set Nigeria ablaze, utilising deceit and deliberate confusion of issues, by attributing their private business of cattle rearing to ‘Northerners’ and that the clash and conflict of interest between the herdsman and farmers is one between the ‘North’ and the ‘South’.

“Nigerian people from all parts of the country also need to see these issues through this prism. Given that the average Fulani herdsman cannot afford an AK47 rifle, it should be clear that it is this cow owing clique that is arming the herdsmen as part of their strategy to enforce their will, to get other Nigerians to be responsible for their business expenses.”

The CDHR also condemned the “exploitation” of herders by cattle owners, stating that it takes the country back to the slavery era.

“The herdsman has rights to found and sustain a family, and to have children who are also entitled to education and to be equipped with skills with which to serve Nigeria. The herdsman is entitled to the fruits of science and modern and newer ways of doing things, and the right to live in comfort as a matter of constitutional right,” the group said

“Undeniably, farmers are entitled to the fruit of their toil which cow owners cannot take away with impunity. The herdsman needs to be mobilised to break away from the condemnation of living like an animal, with cows in bushes without any amenities.

“They don’t own the cows yet they have committed the entirety of their lives to tending cows, without being paid salaries.

“The herdsman must be made to recognise at this time, that the relationship between him and the owners of the cows, who live in comfort in far away cities and towns, is an exploitative one; he works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without defined terms of service. This relationship is a carryover from the slave era.”

- THECABLE

Again, Fulani herdsmen kill four, burn houses in Ogun

 No fewer than four persons have been reportedly killed by suspected killer herdsmen on Sunday evening at Agbon-Ojodu, Yewa North Local Government area of Ogun State.

On Friday, herdsmen were said to have attacked Ebute Igbooro, killing four and setting properties on fire.

This was after about six persons were hacked to death and some thrown into a river in Owode Ketu on Thursday.

DAILY POST reports that the latest Sunday attack came a few hours after a delegation of the Ogun State Government left the area.

The delegation, led by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon Afolabi Afuape and his Information counterpart, Waheed Odusile, were in the troubled areas, in company of the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, promising to secure lives and property.

However, the visit, it was gathered, did not deter the attackers from wreaking another havoc on residents of Agbon and Asa, killing, maiming and burning houses.

They reportedly invaded the areas in the evening, setting ablaze some houses and killing four villagers.

A member of the Ogun State House of Assembly representing the area, Hon. Haruna Egungbohun, has confirmed the incident.

Egungbohun said, “Fulani herdsmen killed 4 people along Agbon road immediately the Commissioner of Police, Commissioner for Local Governments and Commissioner for Information left the area.”

According to him, people ran helter-skelter to avoid being killed by the brutal killer herdsmen.

Meanwhile, the Eselu of Iselu, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, who also confirmed the incident, sounded a note of warning that if the killings of his people did not stop, he might lead an attack against the criminals.

‌Ogun Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, could not be reached for reactions at the moment.

- DAILY POST

Oyo Crisis: 11 buried, over 5,000 displaced in Ibadan

 

No fewer than 11 persons were reportedly buried on Sunday in the aftermath of the clash between Yoruba and Hausa residents of Shasa Market in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.

DAILY POST recalls that a chaos broke out in the State on Thursday when a Hausa man and a Yoruba trader clashed, leading to the death of many residents.

It was gathered that about 5,000 Hausa traders, women and children were displaced during the crisis, as many fled for their lives.

Some of the displaced persons are reportedly taking refuge at the residence of the Sarkin Shasa, Alhaji Haruna Maiyasin, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Ibadan.

The Sarkin Sasa, who is the leader of Hausa residents in the affected area, told Daily Trust yesterday that 11 victims were prepared for burial in his compound.

The charred remains of 8 other people killed during the crisis were still at the police station in the Shasha area, as of yesterday evening.

“You can hear the noise, they are still here,” Alhaji Maiyasin told Daily Trust by telephone. He said the refuges in his residence were up to 3,000.

DAILY POST reports that despite order by the state government to shut down the market, tension in the area continues to increase as the violence persists.

- DAILY POST

BRT bus, conveying 45 persons, bursts into flames

 

Passengers scampered for safety as a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus conveying 45 persons suddenly caught fire on Monday close to Anthony Bus Stop, Ikorodu Road, Lagos, causing panic among road users.

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Zonal Coordinator, southwest Zonal Office, NEMA, confirmed the development in a statement issued in Lagos.

Farinloye said the bus was en route to TBS Terminal, Lagos Island, when the incident occurred about 11 a.m.

According to him, the bus involved in the incident was drafted to assist in conveying the passengers after the one which took off from the Ikorodu terminal broke down.

He said all the passengers were rescued unhurt by officials of the emergency response agencies.

Farinloye said the agencies included NEMA, Police Disaster Management Unit as well as the Fire Service.

- PM NEWS

Policemen to remain at Lekki Tollgate until further notice

 

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos Command, Muyiwa Adejobi has said that officers would remain at the Lekki Toll Gate until further notice from the state commissioner of the Police, Hakeem Odumosu.

According to the PPRO, the police officers have laid siege to five locations in the state apart from the Lekki Tollgate. He said they would remain at the locations until further notice.

“Our policemen are still at the tollgate, it is a deployment and we are working with an operation order and until there is a stand-down order of the operation from the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, the men will still be there. We have not arrested anyone today, there was no breakdown of law and order, no gathering or procession, everything is normal in the area.

“But we are still maintaining our ground there and we have deployment in about five places aside from the Lekki tollgate and our men are still on standby at these strategic places. We have police deployment in Unity Park, Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ogombo Junction, Adeniran Ogunsanya Junction, among others, he said.

Ahead of the #OccupyLekkiTollGate and #DefendLagos protest scheduled for Saturday, 13 February 2021, Police officers were deployed to the Lekki Tollgate to ensure that no protest held at the toll plaza.

The police officers also arrested about 40 protesters at the location on the said date of the protest including popular comedian, Mr. Macaroni.

- PM NEWS