Herdsmen have reportedly returned to Igangan in the Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state, two months after the youths of the ancient town evicted them from their communities.
According to The PUNCH, some herdsmen on Friday, April 2, 2021, attacked a retired school principal, Ojedokun Ogunmodede.
The reason for the attack was not clear but the newspaper reported that sources close to the victim said there was no confrontation between Ogunmodede and the herdsmen.
The herders reportedly inflicted machete injuries which almost chopped off the retired principal’s hands.
Secretary of Ibarapa Farmers Union, Mr Taiwo Adeagbo, while confirming the incident said herdsmen have no stopped attacking farmers and destroying farmlands in Igangan.
“The victim is my relative. He is a retired principal and he should be around 62 years old. I was called to see what happened to him. I immediately called the Commissioner of Police (Ngozi Onadeko). She said I should report to the police officially and I called the DPO in Ayete. He came with two officers and two vans loaded with armed policemen.
“The DPO could not look at the pictures of the victim. They were gory. Strands of flesh are preventing the two hands from falling off after the attack. The two hands are almost off. They have ruined his life.”
When contacted for comment of the incident, Olugbenga Fadeyi, Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, told Punch that the attack was a reprisal by a herder to an earlier attack against three Fulani by some youths in Igangan.
He said, “Information from DPO Ayete revealed that a Fulani herdsman attacked and matcheted a man in his farm by causing injury to his hands.
“ The attack was a reprisal by some youths in Igangan, three Fulani herdsmen were attacked and they sustained injuries while they were rushed to an hospital in Igboora for treatment.
“The DPO Ayete and his police personnel including Pmf were drafted to the scene to prevent further attack. The aggrieved youths were dispersed and normalcy restored.”
The herders-farmer crisis in the South-West has been one of the most talked about issues this year, as a group of Yoruba youths led by a political enforcer, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho are pushing for a secession.
