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”.
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
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