Oyo State Govenor Seyi Makinde and the Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, on Sunday visited Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state to ensure peace returned to the troubled community.
Youths at Igangan had on Friday razed the house of Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, accusing the Fulani community of complicity in kidnappings and killings of the people of the area.
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The delegation also visited the razed home of the Sarkin Fulani in Igangan to assess the damage and promised thorough investigation.
Addressing a gathering of traditional rulers, government officials and Fulani leaders in Igangan, the CP called for calm.
“I want to assure you that all the cases you brought up, a thorough investigation will be done on them and you’ll see that justice will be delivered. We’ll be having more of this interactive session and consultative gathering so that we’ll be able to sit down, talk and iron things out together without resorting to violence, which does not pay.
“Please, don’t take laws into your hands. Just tell us. Let’s have peace and everything, by the grace of God, will be okay for all of us.”
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Speaking at a town hall meeting where traditional rulers and community leaders were present, Makinde, represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Fatai Owoseni, appealed to all the residents of the town to find a way to return communal tolerance and understanding to fight off attacks from bandits and kidnappers.
He further sued for peace in troubled areas of the state, asking all stakeholders to embrace dialogue and desist from the wanton destruction of lives and livelihood.
Owoseni said 51 suspected criminals linked to kidnapping and other crimes committed in Oke Ogun and Ibarapa areas were in police custody; while some were already charged to court.
He said: “Let’s put sentiments and politics aside, from what we heard, it’s not as if the Ibarapa community is against one ethnic group. What they’re claiming and the allegation they’ve made is that a particular person, who they’re now seeing to symbolise an entire ethnic group, has been misbehaving. It’s just like what the governor has been saying that there’s trust-deficit between the people and the government, mistrust between the people and law enforcement agencies.
“If you look at the catalogue of what has been said, they feel they’ve not been given justice and they feel that someone has been stalling justice.
“They feel that someone has been dropping names to oppress the community. I believe that with the steps taken to mend all these gaps and with the assurance that the Commissioner of Police has given that they’ll look at all the cases again, there’ll be a change.”
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