The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Sunday ordered security agents to fish out the individuals behind the attack on Molege community in Ose local government area of the state.
Suspected herdsmen on Friday killed three persons during the attack on the community.
Residents told journalists the criminals attacked the farmers after they were prevented from grazing on the farms in the community.
Akeredolu made the call when he visited the community alongside the state’s Commissioner of Police, Oyediran Oyeyemi, and the Commander of Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye.
He said: ”I commiserate with you on the death of your loved ones. May their souls Rest In Peace. No government will be happy with this kind of development.
“But you have to be prepared. These herdsmen are becoming too problematic.
We are not sleeping. You can see police and Amotekun here. With this one they have done, we will ensure that it is their last evil act here.
Those behind this are criminals. Those supporting them are all criminals too. Anyone who commits crime will answer for it.
“The police and Amotekun with other security agencies will set out and bring them to justice. We will treat them like criminals.
“Both the police and Amotekun have briefed me that they were being shot at. But for their boldness and courage, the criminals would have overwhelmed them.
“I want to assure you, don’t be scared. We are still on their track. They have ran to Edo now. But for the houses that were raised down, the government will bring relief materials. We will rebuild the ones that were razed completely.”
Rotimi Akeredolu, the Ondo State Governor has raised the alarm over possible jailbreaks due to the withdrawal of soldiers from the Nigeria Correctional Service centres across the state.
This warning was contained in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Richard Olatunde, on Wednesday.
According to Akeredolu, men of the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Akure, attached to the centres in the states had been withdrawn.
He also expressed worries that the withdrawal of the soldiers could encourage jailbreaks.
The statement read in part, “Last night, Governor Akeredolu received reports from the Commissioner of Police in the state that soldiers attached to the correctional centres in the state had all been withdrawn.
This development came as a surprise, considering the fact that both the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Correctional Service belong to the Federal Government.
“It is, however, pertinent to alert members of the public and the Federal Government to this unwholesome situation. Findings into the remote cause of this action have only revealed that it was an ‘order from above’ without corresponding details.
“The situation notwithstanding, proactive efforts have been made to secure these centres so as not to allow premeditated jailbreaks as whoever gave the order to withdraw those soldiers was in the process of encouraging such.”
The Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, said on Tuesday the state government would do everything possible to protect the lives and property of the people of the state.
Akeredolu, who stated this when the State Overseer of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry led the church pastorate to his office in Akure, said although the new anti-open grazing law in the state was not acceptable to some people, the government would not withdraw it.
He added that the state government would ensure that farmers no longer lose farm crops through the outdated open grazing practice by herdsmen.
The governor said: “I want to urge you to intensify your prayers for us. We need it. You have referred to our efforts in trying to secure this our homeland. We have made efforts, established Amotekun, and banned open grazing.
“It is not what is pleasing to everybody. Some people are not pleased with us. We are ready to stand by it and face whatever it will cost us. Pray for us.
Amotekun and the anti-open grazing law are not pleasing to some people and they are gathering together, planning evil. Pray for us. Their evil will not work.
“What we are saying is that your herds can not keep destroying our crops. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has come and we have discussed it.
“The Miyetti-Allah here in Ondo appears to want to cooperate with us because they know that when their cows destroy crops, we seize their cows and they pay the farmers before they are released.
“We just want to make it clear that you can’t make your own ends meet and destroy other people’s source of livelihood. We know your prayers are very important to us. We need it.”
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, says the murder of Ahmed Gulak, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is an attempt to create discord between northerners and south-easterners.
Gulak, a former aide of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan was shot dead on Sunday while on his way to the airport in Owerri, Imo state.
The Ondo state governor described his killing as “one murder too many”.
Akeredolu, in a statement, described the perpetrators as enemies of the country whose objective is to mislead, confuse and destroy.
He called on the south-east governors to brace up and confront the current security challenges in the region.
The statement reads: “The news of the death of an APC chieftain and former Special Adviser on Political Matters in the last Administration, Ahmed Gulak, in Owerri, Imo State, this morning, is very shocking and disturbing. The details of the tragic incident remain sketchy. A press statement credited to the Imo State Police Command claimed that some bandits were responsible for the gruesome murder of a man who was a visitor to the State. This is unacceptable.
“This is one murder too many. It is senseless and wicked. The perpetrators of this heinous act are enemies of this country. This contrivance is meant to mislead, confuse and destroy. It bears the unmistakable, despicable imprints of fifth columnists bent on setting the country on the path of conflagration. These criminals must not be allowed to succeed.
We want to use this medium to express our solidarity with our brother Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma. We admonish him and other Governors in the South Eastern States to brace up, and confront the current security challenge to put an end to the bloodbath in the land. The enemies of the people always employ the weapon of fear to create disaffection in the polity.
This cowardly act is calculated to instigate Nigerians against each other, particularly Northerners, against the Igbo living outside the South East. We must confront the enemies of the people with a view to neutralizing them. This is definitely not the time for political correctness. Banditry should not be allowed to subvert the legitimacy of the current Government at all levels.
“We call on all security agencies to collaborate with a view to unveiling the criminal elements sponsoring and undertaking terrorist acts. they must be punished, severely.”
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has restated his stance over the continued unity of the Nigerian State. Akeredolu made this disclosure on Sunday, in response to claims by Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho at a rally in Akure on Saturday, that the Governor is in support of secession in the South-West.
Igboho had said, “The governor is aware of these things we are doing, we have his support. We are no more under the Fulani. All we want is the Yoruba Nation.”
However, in his response signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, on Sunday, Akeredolu said Igboho and other secessionist agitators were on their own.
The statement was titled, ‘Yoruba Nation Agitators On Their Own – Akeredolu’.
It read, “It has come to the knowledge of the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, that some group of persons who held a rally under the cover of what they term ‘secessionist agitations’ in Akure, on Saturday, May 22, 2021, erroneously claimed to have had his support for the rally.
“Governor Akeredolu wishes to state clearly that while he acknowledges the right of individuals and groups to hold peaceful rallies, it must not be misconstrued to mean support for secessionist agenda and or balkanization of the nation. Far from it.
“Unequivocally, the Governor’s opinion on the Akure rally or any other of its ilk, is only to the effect that he is not opposed to any civil protest which is not in breach of the extant laws of the Nation.
“He neither believes nor supports the quest for the Yoruba Nation outside of Nigeria in the manner canvassed. Governor Akeredolu stands by a virile, united, and indivisible Nigeria as demanded by the Southern Governors’ Forum.
“Therefore, the vigour, zeal, leadership, and candour displayed by Governor Akeredolu for a just and fair Nigeria is altruistic, and borne out of patriotism for the Nation as well as love for his people, the Yoruba ethnic nationality.
“It is important, therefore, to state without any equivocation that the Yoruba Nation secessionist promoters do not enjoy any lending hand in Governor Akeredolu.”
Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Wednesday appointed a former Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in the state, Princess Oladunni Odu, as the new Secretary of the state government, the first in the history of the state.
A statement by the governor‘s Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olabode Olatunde in Akure revealed.
Olatunde said ” Princess Odu has served in many capacities at both the State and Federal levels. She was Federal Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission and at different times, former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Education respectively.
Her appointment is in recognition of her proven integrity and outstanding record of performance in her previous assignments.
Meanwhile, Governor Akeredolu has approved the appointment of the immediate-past Head of the State Public Service, Mr Dare Aragbaiye as Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties.
Other appointments approved by the Governor include Mrs Olubunmi Adedipe Ademosu – Special Adviser, Public and Intergovernmental Relations, Hon. Babatunde Gabriel Kolawole – Special Adviser, Rural and Community Development, Mr Summy Smart Francis – Special Adviser on Entrepreneurship Development.
Governor Akeredolu congratulated the new appointees and urged them to discharge their duties with utmost responsibilities.
Olatunde in the statement said the ” the appointees will be sworn in by the Governor on Monday, March 22, 2021, at the Cocoa Conference Hall, Governor’s office Alagbaka, Akure
Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has suspended all activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state till further notice, and ordered all members of the union to immediately vacate all motor parks across the state.
This came after one person was reported killed in renewed clash between factions of the union in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The victim was identified as Ademola Ademoyegun Shina while Adeyemi Samuel Ojuyobo and Akinyemi Bayo were injured in the process.
One time factional National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buba Galadima, has attacked the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, over his recent eviction order to Fulani herdsmen from forest reserves in the state.
Galadima who spoke in an interview on AIT programme, Kakaaki on Wednesday in Abuja, said Akeredolu is ‘an educated illiterate’ who should not be making such statements which he described as inciting and inflammatory.
Galadima expressed his surprise at the order by a governor who is a lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), saying that Akeredolu should know that “there was no law that permits him to evict Fulani herders for any reason,” as any Nigerian can choose to live in any part of the country.
He added that the governor has shown his ignorance of the laws of Nigeria and that the said forest belongs to the Federal Government and not Ondo State.
“Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State who calls himself a SAN is an educated illiterate. He shouldn’t be giving such orders in the first place. All Nigerians are free to live in any part of Nigeria,” Galadima said in the interview.
“It should be that any group of people living in any part of the country should be protected at all costs irrespective of their tribe, ethnicity or religion.
“So also, the Fulani or any other tribe, be it in Ondo, they are under the protection of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Who owns the forest reserves? Who gazetted the ownership of the forest reserves? It was gazetted by the then colonial masters. Once, it is gazetted, it is a Federal land and even if for instance, it is Ondo land, Nigerians are free to carry out businesses in any part of the country.
“The lands are vested in governors of various states to hold in trust for the people. And in Ondo, they are part of the people that the Act says the governor should hold the land in trust for.
“You see, there are certain things you do; you play the law; you play morality, and you play unity. On this issue, Ondo State governor is supposed to play unity and it’s wrong to declare a certain ethnic group ‘persona non-grata’ in a certain area of your state.
“We now know why there was so much acrimony even from the people in Ondo, when Akeredolu was running for a second term in office.
“He has manifested himself so well that he is not a leader. He suggested that if the people living in Ondo forests are security threat, they should be raided and neutralized rather than being evicted.
“If what he meant was to have the Fulanis registered for easy identification which he later claimed, how would they be registered in their own country? I am not a Fulani and I am not talking for them. This kind of things should not happen.
“Of course, it is legitimate for government to try to identify the actual people who are carrying out heinous crimes, particularly in the obvious infiltration of foreigners, but not to evict.
“There is a difference between identification and eviction. What I said is that it is not right to evict anybody.
“There are Fulani herdsmen in every part of Nigeria. Some of them in South-West, South-East or South-South; some of them speak the indigenous languages more than their own dialects.
“They have adopted the culture of the people. What they have left of their culture is the rearing of cattle and I want Nigerians to understand that there is a difference between bandits who kill, who abduct and kill innocent persons, and Fulani cattle herders.
“In all these, we haven’t seen any Fulani herder who keeps cattle on a farm and ensure the farmer is killed.”
The governor had also banned night grazing and outlawed underage herders as part of his administration’s effort to stop kidnapping in the state.
The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has said the state government will take ‘the next step’ in line with the quit notice issued to the herders in Ondo forest reserves. The governor had also banned night grazing and outlawed underage herders as part of his administration’s effort to stop kidnapping in the state.
The Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo said the state government “will wait for the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum handed down to the herdsmen occupying the forest reserves before it will know the next step.”
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
SaharaReporters gathered the South West States’ governors would meet (today). There has been an uproar following the quit orders given to Fulani herders by governor Akeredolu and a youth leader in Oyo State, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known Sunday Igboho.
Igboho was indicted in the recent attack on Fulani communities at Iganga, Ibarapa LGA of Oyo state.
Falana said the order was in tandem with Section 42 (1) (e) and (g) of the Forestry Law of Ondo State which provided that whoever in any forest reserve, except with authority in writing of the prescribed officer, digs, cuts, turns or cultivates the soil or makes a farm or plantation; pastures cattle or permits cattle to trespass or trespasses in any part of forest reserves in which trespass shall be prohibited by an order of the government.
Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), says the order by the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, that herdsmen should leave forest reserves within seven days is legal.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana said the order was in tandem with Section 42 (1) (e) and (g) of the Forestry Law of Ondo State which provided that whoever in any forest reserve, except with authority in writing of the prescribed officer, digs, cuts, turns or cultivates the soil or makes a farm or plantation; pastures cattle or permits cattle to trespass or trespasses in any part of forest reserves in which trespass shall be prohibited by an order of the governor.
Femi Falana (SAN)
The human rights lawyer said the Presidency ought to have studied the law properly before issuing a statement last week to condemn Akeredeolu.
“Without addressing the relevant provisions of the Forestry Law or reaching out to Governor Akeredolu, the Presidency rushed to the media to challenge the directive of the Ondo State Government as it might affect undocumented herders operating in the said forests. Regrettably, such official mismanagement of the crisis has been allowed to polarise the people along ethnic lines to the detriment of national security,” Falana said.
However, he urged the state government to extend the deadline given to the herdsmen while also calling on the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria to register with the state government.
Falana stated, “Concerning the brewing crisis in Ondo State, we call on Governor Akeredolu (SAN), to extend the seven-day ultimatum to allow all farmers and herders operating in the forest reserve to register with the state government without any delay.
“The Miyetti Allah and similar groups should ensure that all their members who have not registered with the state government do so without any further delay in the overall interest of the security of the people in the state.”
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to summon a Nigeria Police Council meeting to address the country’s heightened insecurity.
He added, “As a matter of urgency, the Federal Government should mobilise adequate police and other security forces to halt the menace of kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, armed robbery and other violent crimes in the land.”
The Ondo State government on Tuesday described the statement credited to the presidency on the directive given herdsmen to vacate the state’s forest reserves as a brazen display of emotional attachment.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, had in a statement titled: “In tackling crime, Ondo State Government will not act outside the constitution,” issued on Tuesday night, condemned the ultimatum given the herdsmen to vacate the Ondo State forest reserves by the state government.
He, however, said the presidency had carefully monitored events occurring in the state and urged the leadership of the Fulani communities to continue their dialogue with the state government for a good understanding that would bring to an urgent end the nightmarish security challenges.
He said: “It will be the least expected to unilaterally oust thousands of herders who have lived all their lives in the state on account of the infiltration of the forests by criminals.
“If this were to be the case, rights groups will be right in expressing worries that the action could set off a chain of events which the makers of our constitution foresaw and tried to guard against.
“We want to make it clear that kidnapping, banditry, and rustling are crimes, no matter the motive or who is involved. But, to define crime from the nameplates, as a number of commentators have erroneously done- which group they belong to, the language they speak, their geographical location, or their faith is atavistic and cruel.”
In its reaction to the remarks, the Ondo State government in a statement issued by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, insisted that such attachment is inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
According to Ojogo, the presidency statement had stated “unambiguously, the position of the Federal Government on the matter.
He said: “The Ondo State government did not ask Fulani to leave the state. The governor said herdsmen who are unregistered should leave our forests. The statement from Garba Shehu is a brazen display of emotional attachments and it’s very inimical to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
“We need clearly defined actions on the part of the Federal Government to decimate the erroneous impression that the inspiration of these criminal elements masquerading as herdsmen is that of power. Our unity is threatened, no doubt.
“It (statement) states in a breath that the governor fights crime with passion while it is prevaricating on the atrocities. The question is, are the herdsmen who are perpetrating murder, kidnapping, and robbery more important than government and even the Federal Government in this case? Ethnic nationality and activism on the part of anyone hiding under the presidency or federal government is an ill wind.”
The commissioner had in an earlier statement declared that there was no going back on the state government’s directives for herdsmen to vacate all the forest reserves in the state.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria has ordered herdsmen to vacate all the state’s forest reserves within the next seven days.
The governor in a series of tweet on Monday said the steps are aimed at addressing “the root cause of kidnapping and other nefarious activities detailed and documented in security reports, the press and debriefings from victims of kidnap cases in Ondo State”.
“These unfortunate incidents are traceable to the activities of some bad elements masquerading as herdsmen. These felons have turned our forest reserves into hideouts for keeping victims of kidnapping, negotiating for ransom and carrying out other criminal activities,” the governor tweeted on Monday.
“As the Chief Law and Security Officer of the State, it is my constitutional obligation to do everything lawful to protect the lives and property of all residents of the State. In light of the foregoing, the following orders are hereby issued:
“All Forest Reserves in the State are to be vacated by herdsmen within the next 7 days with effect from today, Monday 18th January 2021.
“Night-grazing is banned with immediate effect because most farm destruction takes place at night.
Akeredolu
“Movement of cattle within cities and highways is prohibited. Under-aged grazing of cattle is outlawed.
“Our resolution to guarantee safety of lives and property within the State shall remain utmost as security agencies have been directed to enforce the ban.
“In its usual magnanimity, our administration will give a grace period of seven days for those who wish to carry on with their cattle-rearing business to register with appropriate authorities.”
Ondo Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, has raised the alarm over a plot by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to forge his signature on a prepared resignation letter.
Ajayi said he has no plans to resign from office.
Some close associates of Ajayi had hinted last weekend he was being pressured to honorably resign from office.
Ajayi, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Allen Sowore, said he was elected alongside Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and the four- year mandate will not end until 23rd February 2021.
He stated news about his impending resignation was sponsored by Akeredolu as a subterfuge in preparation for a macabre plan to forge his signature.
The Ondo Deputy Governor urged the general public to be wary of the latest antics and desperation of Governor Akeredolu to remove him by all means and at any cost illegally.
According to him: “The people of Ondo State, who voted for Agboola Ajayi as Deputy Governor in 2016 have not ask him to resign or quit the government.
“Therefore, he has no reason whatsoever to relinquish the people’s mandate, which of course is limited by term/time, democratically bestowed upon him.”
But Akeredolu, who reacted through his Special Assistant New Media, Richard Olatunde, said the signature of Ajayi was too insignificant to be forged.
He said he would rather deepen concern as regards efforts to confront the current national issue of youth protests.
“All the same, one does not accept anything less from a thoroughly beaten and politically minimized egocentric being.
“This is not the first time he would unveil untruths not only about others but about himself too. Forgery cannot, and has never been part of this Government.
“Those whose identities are shrouded in such are already a distance away from the Government led by Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN. They know themselves.
“His signature is too insignificant now, and even beyond today, to be forged. It’s not in the character of Mr. Governor or anyone in the Government he heads.”
The spokesman of the Eyitayo Jegede campaign organisation, Gbenga Akinmoyo, has said that the team is waiting on God, after his principal was defeated in the Ondo Governorship election.
Akinmoyo stated this during an interview on Channels Television in Akure on Sunday.
“This project is a project that God has ordained. As it is so, we wait. So we wait on God,” he said.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the incumbent Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, as the winner of the poll.
Akeredolu won 15 out of 18 local governments, with Jegede winning the remaining three.
Akinmoyo thanked the people of the state for voting for their conscience during the polls and commended the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members for working hard for the party.
“For the benefit of the general public, we will like to thank all the Ondo State voters who went to the polls yesterday and voted for their conscience,” he added.
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