[caption id="attachment_30413" align="alignright" width="448"] Ismaila Alade: While others escaped being killed, he was hit on the jaw by bullets from the gun shots fired by the attackers. His jaw, teeth and bones were shattered.[/caption][caption id="attachment_30417" align="alignright" width="253"] Yakubu Adams:“I was begging the Bororo to take the cows away from my farm but he did not respond. He was just looking at me. At a point, he was harvesting my cassava for them. When I could not bear this anymore, I started driving the cows out of my farm and this annoyed the Bororo who engaged me in fight with a sword. I did not have anything to defend myself because I did not envisage such a thing that day. He was aiming at my head but God saved me. But he eventually cut of my hand and he fled immediately with his cows”.[/caption] By Gbenro Adesina. Travellers in the Oke-Ogun Area of Oyo State, comprising Iseyin, Otu, Okaka, Sepeteri, Saki and environs usually hold their breath and pray silently when they travel until they reach their destinations. Reason: Bororo or Fulani cattle rearers always attack them on the way. This has led to beefing up of surveillance by hunters and various vigilance groups armed with local guns and assorted charms. Even, on their farm settlements and towns, everyone sleeps with only one eye. In other words, various villages and farms experience constant attacks as the herdsmen drive their cows to feed on crops. The Oke-Ogun Area, tagged the “food basket” of Oyo State is made up of these local government areas: Saki West, Saki East, Oorelope, Olorunsogo, Irepo, Atisbo, Itesiwaju, Kajola, Iseyin and Iwajowa. The region is essentially an agrarian zone. Investigations revealed that several thousands of people have experienced the wrath of the herdsmen in one form or the other in the last few years. There were reported as well as unreported cases of burning of farms and farm produce, rapes, cutting of hands and legs and maiming in various forms. According to those interviewed, the people in the area are helpless as it seems the situation is beyond even the police in that area. Some residents alleged that some of the community leaders are not helping matters as they compromise and mortgage the lives of the people of the area for materials gains. They equally alleged that the herdsmen are very powerful because they front for some influential people in the country adding that some of the cows they rear belong to people in authority. According to the victims, cattle belonging to the Fulani-Bororo herdsmen graze on their crops instead of looking for grass for them thereby destroying the farmlands and preventing a bountiful harvest. On several occasions, the Fulani would set these farmlands on fire deliberately, including harvested produce met on the farms as well as barns containing harvested yams, leading to the loss of millions of naira. As a result, many farmers have abandoned their farms. [caption id="attachment_30418" align="alignright" width="448"] Elizabeth Olawale:“We met the Fulani-Bororo on the way. They beat us and collected our money. They also collected my handset. I just bought another one. They were up to eight. They took turns to rape me and the other woman on the road in the presence of everyone. They were armed with guns, dangerous weapons and charms. They operated for over one hour because many passengers from many vehicles were affected.”[/caption] At Saki, the magazine was confronted with a barrage of petitions written over time to government at all levels and traditional councils against the herdsmen, seeking immediate solution to the problem. Among the petitions were those written by Saki Parapo, dated 26 March and 1 April 2010; Grassroots Agricultural Society, 23 February and 9 September 2009 and the one dated 18 March 2010 by A. Y. Aderogba and Co. to Oyo State Governor and captioned “Averting Communal Clash between Farmers and Fulani-Bororo Cattle Rearers”. At Iseyin, the Jagun-Ode of Iseyin Local Government, Chief Ige Ologede, in the company of Olori-Ode of Iseyin, Chief Ogunleti Ogunsiji, lamented various attacks of Fulani-Bororo on the farmers saying that apart from several people being killed, destruction of farms by the cattle and setting of both farms and barns on fire, the herdsmen have also injured many people. Lauding Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba (Dr.) Abdu-Ganiyu Oloogunebi-Ajinase I, for his efforts in curbing the activities of the herdsmen, Ologede noted that the police could not even stand the herdsmen. He said, “Fulani-Bororo have people in Abuja. They have highly placed people around them and that is why they go free after committing crime.” One of the victims of the Fulani-Bororo invaders, 30-year old Yakubu Adams, a resident of Otu who has four children and a wife, had his hand cut off on his farm situated at Igbojaiye area on Tuesday 12 February 2013. According to him, he was on his farm with one Segun working when a Bororo man of about 25 years of age led his cattle to his farm to graze. “I was begging him to take the cows away from my farm but he did not respond. He was just looking at me. At a point, he was harvesting my cassava for them. When I could not bear this anymore, I started driving the cows out of my farm and this annoyed the Bororo who engaged me in fight with a sword. I did not have anything to defend myself because I did not envisage such a thing that day. He was aiming at my head but God saved me. But he eventually cut of my hand and the Bororo man fled immediately with his cows”, he stated. [caption id="attachment_30420" align="alignright" width="437"] One of the burnt local agric storage facilities[/caption] [caption id="attachment_30386" align="alignright" width="400"] Fulani cattle reares[/caption] His shout attracted Segun who was on the other side of the farm and rushed down to help him. Segun rushed down to the hamlet to alert people who ran down to the farm and took the victim to the Otu Police Station from where he was taken to the General Hospital, Otu, where he spent about two months receiving treatment. He said, “In the pains after the attack, I managed to take my amputated hand with the hope that they would help me fix it in the hospital but they could not fix it and that is how I lost one of my two hands”, he explained. “The Itesiwaju Local Government paid N20, 000 out of the N50, 000 medical bills. My family raised the balance. Also, the council ensured that the culprit was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to three years imprisonment”, Adams added. Yakubu’s father, Baruba Adams, sought artificial hand for his son from kind-hearted individuals saying, “He needs help to put his family together because as things are now, he can no longer cultivate. He needs another job and I appeal for help from anyone for him”. In the case of Ahmed Adeyoola, alias Sugar, a father of eight from three wives, he is not alive to tell his own story. He was gruesomely murdered on the farm by the Bororo. But his family members, Toheeb, 14 an SS 1 Student of Otu Community Grammar School who witnessed the murder of his father; the youngest wife, Isiyat, 30; a cousin, Lateef Salawudeen, 40 and the immediate younger brother to the deceased, Rasheed, told the story. Toheeb disclosed that the incidence occurred on Easter Monday, 25 April 2011, when he accompanied the father to the farm. He said that the father first hunted around and killed a bird which he was frying when the Fulani-Bororo came with his cattle to graze on the farm and when the deceased resisted, the Fulani-Bororo brought out a knife and stabbed his father twice on the breast and on the back. The man slumped and died. He said, “We heard noise in the farm and by the time we got there, we saw my father wrestling with the Fulani-Bororo who eventually killed him and ran away with his cows. We had to rush and call another farmer very close to us for help but before we came, my father had died”. Lateef disclosed that the incidence degenerated into crisis as the indigenes protested the dastardly act but did not kill in retaliation. “But the Bororo framed us up and went to the station to report that we killed some of them and their cows. As a result, the police came to the town to arrest indiscriminately, including our three monarchs namely: Oniro of Otu, Oba Sunday Adepoju; Onisa Osisa, Oba Isaka and Onibise of Ibise; Chairman, Association of the Descendants, Mr. Dejo and some mechanics. We had to ask other people they wanted to arrest to run away. Those arrested stayed about six months in the police cell in Abuja before we could raise huge money to bail them out. I learnt that we were asked to bring N1.5m but when we complained that we are not many in our town, they accepted N950, 000 which all the indigenes contributed. Senator Hosea Agboola eventually helped us with N2m. Dayo Adegbenro also helped.” [caption id="attachment_30424" align="alignright" width="253"] Comrade Najeem Ayantayo: “If we see them coming on the farm, we have to run away for our dear lives. Three weeks ago, there was an incident at Okaka. I was a victim. On my way to Otu around 7pm, they attacked us. They macheted one person but I escaped with the help of God. I was a farmer but I had to abandon it because of incessant destruction of my farm by Fulani-Bororo and their cows. They always threaten us with Abuja.”“If we see them coming on the farm, we have to run away for our dear lives. Three weeks ago, there was an incidence at Okaka. I was a victim. On my way to Otu around 7pm, they attacked us. They macheted one person but I escaped with the help of God. I was a farmer but I had to abandon it because of incessant destruction of my farm by Fulani-Bororo and their cows."[/caption] Isiyat affirmed that ever since Fulani-Bororo murdered her husband, life is no longer the same as it has become difficult for them to survive and cater for the children the deceased left behind. “I am managing to continue to pay the school fees of my first born who the father put in a private school, Best Legacy Nursery and Primary School. Other children have been enrolled in public schools. I am begging the government to assist us by giving scholarship to our children”, she said. Former Chairman, Itesiwaju Branch, Otu, Comrade Najeem Ayantayo disclosed to the magazine that he abandoned farming due to incessant attacks by Bororo, stressing that on several occasions, he had escaped death. He pointed out that there was a time he borrowed N70, 000 which he invested on farming but could not realise a dime because his farm was destroyed by Fulani-Bororo. He said, “If we see them coming on the farm, we have to run away for our dear lives. Three weeks ago, there was an incidence at Okaka. I was a victim. On my way to Otu around 7pm, they attacked us. They macheted one person but I escaped with the help of God. I was a farmer but I had to abandon it because of incessant destruction of my farm by Fulani-Bororo and their cows. They always threaten us with Abuja. They will say that if we misbehave to them, they will make sure that police arrest us and take us to Abuja. This problem has made the elderly ones to stay at home and survive with whatever the children give them. The Jukum are also affected. They attack them too”. [caption id="attachment_30423" align="alignright" width="448"] From right, the wife, Isiyat, mother, children and two brothers left behind by late Ahmed Adeyoola killed by the Fulani[/caption] Equally, an Otu based commercial driver, Fatai Tafa, revealed that he left farming when the Fulani-Bororo destroyed his maize and groundnut farms, adding that it was highly pathetic that when he reported the case at the police station, the policemen asked him to go and find the culprit and bring him for them for prosecution! Likewise, some victims at Saki revealed that their own predicament from Fulani-Bororo is nastier than other parts of Oke-Ogun. They attributed this to the porosity of the borders, pointing out that most of the Fulani-Bororo who are foreigners settle in their towns whenever they come from Mali or Niger. Prince Sola Oladepo of Oke Oro Baptist church, Saki, has abandoned his 10 acre-farm for fear of Bororo, claiming that they killed two of his relatives, Tijani and Taye. “We discovered Taye’s body three days after they killed him”, he said. Elizabeth Olawale, 40 and mother of four had her ordeal on Wednesday 12 December 2012 when she was robbed of her money and handset and raped by eight Fulani-Bororo herdsmen. Her words, “I am a trader and I travel to many places to buy wares. On 12 December 2012, I went to Idera Area of Saki to buy wares but I could not get anything to buy. On my way home, we were two women in the vehicle I boarded and others were men. We met the Fulani-Bororo on the way. They beat us and collected our money. They also collected my handset. I just bought another one. They were up to eight. They took turns to rape me and the other woman on the road in the presence of everyone. They were armed with guns, dangerous weapons and charms. They operated for over one hour because many passengers from many vehicles were affected. Some motorists became victims because they thought that our vehicle had problem and they stopped to help out and also became victims. My husband would have sent me packing from his house if not the intervention of the elders. But he later showed understanding and treated me in the hospital”. Ismaila Alade’s encounter with the Fulani-Bororo was another pathetic experience. Alade, 45, a father of seven and a practicing farmer at Igboosa Village along Komi Road which links Saki, headquarters of Saki West Local Government with Ago-Amodu, headquarters of Saki East Local Government, had different crops on his farm. His misfortune occurred on Saturday 15 October 2000 when the Fulani-Bororo struck, burnt all the huts and barns containing crops and sprayed the house of Alade’s father with bullets. While others escaped being killed, Ismaila was hit on the left jaw by bullets from the gun shots fired by the attackers. He had his jaw, teeth and bones shattered. Few days after his admission at University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, the National Medical Association, NMA, declared a strike and UCH doctors joined. The strike was not called off on time. He was discharged without being attended to and he had to wait for one year two months before operation could be carried out on him. He spent one year six months in the hospital. Narrating the story on his behalf because he could no longer talk very well, his uncle, a sign writer in Saki, Mr. Timothy Oladokun, living at No. 28, Idi Igba, Saki, revealed that the treatment cost N250, 000, saying that they had to sell their property to raise the money. He added that Saki West Local Government assisted with N20, 000. Though, he still engages in farming, he could not do much again as his burden has been tremendously shifted to his relatives. [caption id="attachment_30421" align="alignright" width="448"] Barrister Bayo Toluwalase[/caption] Primate Samson Ojoawo, about 80, husband of eight wives and twelve children, a farmer, hunter, and leader of United African Baptist Mission, did not only have his two acres of cassava farm destroyed in a day by Fulani-Bororo but was also incarcerated by the police in Abuja by the powers that be. He disclosed that on Friday 23 January 1999, he sent his two children, Isaiah and Mathew, to the farm for them to meet about 500 cows being managed by six cattle rearers eating his cassava. Attempts to stop them resulted in the cattle rearers opening fire on them but they were not hurt and they later left after they had destroyed the entire farmland. The case was reported to the police. However, non-response from the police irked the residents of the town and they protested. The Fulani-Bororo demonstrated their superiority when they reported to the police that Oloawo was a spiritualist using human blood for his spiritual work. The Fulani specifically alleged that one of them caught him drilling the blood of a Fulani-Bororo into a calabash for spiritual usage. Ojoawo was arrested and incarceration by the Police at Abuja for six months before his release when no offence could be established against him. Primate Ojoawo said, “Everyday, Fulani-Bororo rape our women in the village, on the farms and other places they meet them. They will also collect money from them. They have robbed and raped countless women. As a result, some women have died. They also rape aged women who are above 50 years and were already in their menopause stage. They have disvirgined many young girls and they have raped many minors. Also, they go to our farms and destroy them. They have done a lot of havoc by way of uprooting the cassava tubers for their cattle to consume and also stored millet, they would take yams out of the barns to feed their cattle and they set the remnants on fire to cover their tracks. Unfortunately, whenever the victims complain, they kill, injure or have him detained by the Police”. He continued: “I complain to the police and most time, they will tell us that they are tired. But the question is that if they are tired to do their job, who do we go to? I believe that after God, it is the government. So how can a government say that it cannot do anything? Why are our leaders treating us this way? What is our offence that the government cannot protect us? As I am talking to you, many farmers are counting their losses to the Fulani-Bororo. Their cows are not feeding on the grass again but on the crops planted by the farmers. We are helpless. Last week, the Fulani-Bororo shot a young man and scattered his head. He was not apprehended. Once they perpetuate their act, they escape and unfortunately, it is difficult to identify them”. [caption id="attachment_30422" align="alignright" width="448"] A burnt farm at lseyin[/caption] The man who could not comprehend why Fulani-Bororo are being treated like those that are above the law blamed government for the predicaments of Oke-Ogun Area saying, “I am bold to say that it is government that opens the door for the robbers to come in and rob innocent people. The Fulani-Bororo do not fear and respect constituted authority. Any monarch that cautions them will be framed up and they will ensure that he is arrested and taken to Abuja. I don’t know why they are that powerful. We farmers are helpless now. The only thing government can do is just a determination to decide to help out. Government does not value us at all. They see us as ordinary people. Our lives are meaningless to them. They are protecting only Fulani-Bororo, not people of the land. They protect only the criminals and leave innocent citizens to their fate. I have handed the matter over to God to judge everyone in this matter. God should judge the government if they are fair to us”. However, in order to safeguard his fundamental human rights, Primate Ojoawo sued the Chief of Fulanis in Saki, Alhaji Usman Kwashe and a retire divisional Police Officer, Mr. Hussein Mama and five others, praying the court to grant four prayers. In his judgment of 30 April 2013 over the matter, Justice M. O. Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Saki, granted all his prayers compelling the Fulani-Bororo cattle breeders, led by Kwashe and Mama, to pay N1.5m for using their cattle to graze already harvested farm products, compelling the police authority to investigate and prosecute Kwashe and Mama as well as ordering the stoppage of heinous acts of the Fulani-Bororo. Proffering solutions, the residents of the zone demanded that the government should send the Bororos back to where they come from. Alternatively, government can create settlements for them or come up with law regulating cattle rearing which will completely prohibit Fulani-Bororo from grazing in the farms. They equally called for beefing up of security to curb their robbing, raping and other evil activities. A Saki based legal practitioner, Mr. Bayo Toluwalase, called for better community policing and recruitment of more vigilance people who would be well equipped to complement police in securing the area. However, showing concern over the dastardly act of the herdsmen in the state, the Oyo State House of Assembly has constituted a committee, headed by the Majority Leader, Hon. Kehinde Subair, to find a lasting solution to the incessant Fulani/ Bororo herdsmen and farmers’ crisis in the state