Police To Begin Shoot At Sight Order In Ekiti

Ekiti State Police Command has vowed to enforce the presidential
directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that any non-state actor
bearing firearms should be shot at sight.

The Commissioner of Police stated this at a stakeholders’
meeting in Ado Ekiti, the state capital held at the behest of the
Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to find solution to the
lingering farmers/herders’ clashes.

Mobayo stated that the police in Ekiti are resolute to restore
peace between the warring farmers and herdsmen in Ekiti, using the
instrumentality of the laws and arbitrate when necessary to halt
ethnic tension in the state.

At the meeting, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN),
Ekiti chapter, agreed that establishment of ranches will help in
resolving the lingering crises between the two groups.

Speaking during the meeting, the Police boss said no efforts
would be spared to prevent ethnic clash in the state, saying ‘peace
is non-negotiable’.

He said: “We are ready to implement every presidential order
against those carrying illegal arms. If you carry unlicensed arms
in Ekiti State, we are going to deal with you ruthlessly.

“To those carrying AK 47 without licence, it is like carrying
death certificate and hang on it on your head, so carrying of AK 47
by non-state actors is not permitted in Ekiti.”

Mobayo, who described as erroneous, the impression that the
Police were protecting the Fulani herders, said his men have been
handling all issues that are connected to the two feuding groups in
Ekiti.

“We know that Fulani herdsmen most of the time go out of their
ways to destroy people’s farms, but we have always been rising up
to handle such cases without taking sides. We were being careful
because the locals as well used to perpetrate some of these evils
under the cover of herdsmen.

“Don’t also forget that underage cattle rearing and night
grazing have been banned. If there is any case against Fulani that
I am not handling well, out can write a petition against me to the
police Zonal office in Akure. I won’t protect any criminal.”

The AFAN Chairman in Ekiti, Mr. Adebola Alagbada, said
establishment of ranches remains the best panacea to
farmers-herders’ clashes.

“Cattle ranches by government and individuals will help is
resolving all these crises. If Chief Obafemi Awolowo could
establish ranches across the southwest in 1958, why can’t we do
same in this millennium time?”

Similarly, the Head of Fulani in Ekiti State, Alhaji Adamu
Abache, called for registration of all members for easy
identification.

“It is true that farms were being destroyed, but if we had
registered with the local governments, we would have been able to
identify these itinerant Fulani killer herders would have been
known.

“We are not against arrest of criminals, but anytime they want
to arrest, the police and other security agencies must ensure that
the criminals are arrested not innocent Fulani herders”.

The Ajero of Ijero, Oba Joseph Adewole, lamented that;” People
had been killed in Orin and Isaba Ekiti and nobody had been
prosecuted. Some Fulani people are claiming that Nigerian lands
belong to them and that they must get it by force. Government must
arrest those making such incendiary comments?”

Ekiti State Police Command has vowed to enforce the presidential
directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that any non-state actor
bearing firearms should be shot at sight.

The Commissioner of Police stated this at a stakeholders’
meeting in Ado Ekiti, the state capital held at the behest of the
Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to find solution to the
lingering farmers/herders’ clashes.

Mobayo stated that the police in Ekiti are resolute to restore
peace between the warring farmers and herdsmen in Ekiti, using the
instrumentality of the laws and arbitrate when necessary to halt
ethnic tension in the state.

At the meeting, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN),
Ekiti chapter, agreed that establishment of ranches will help in
resolving the lingering crises between the two groups.

Speaking during the meeting, the Police boss said no efforts
would be spared to prevent ethnic clash in the state, saying ‘peace
is non-negotiable’.

He said: “We are ready to implement every presidential order
against those carrying illegal arms. If you carry unlicensed arms
in Ekiti State, we are going to deal with you ruthlessly.

“To those carrying AK 47 without licence, it is like carrying
death certificate and hang on it on your head, so carrying of AK 47
by non-state actors is not permitted in Ekiti.”

Mobayo, who described as erroneous, the impression that the
Police were protecting the Fulani herders, said his men have been
handling all issues that are connected to the two feuding groups in
Ekiti.

“We know that Fulani herdsmen most of the time go out of their
ways to destroy people’s farms, but we have always been rising up
to handle such cases without taking sides. We were being careful
because the locals as well used to perpetrate some of these evils
under the cover of herdsmen.

“Don’t also forget that underage cattle rearing and night
grazing have been banned. If there is any case against Fulani that
I am not handling well, out can write a petition against me to the
police Zonal office in Akure. I won’t protect any criminal.”

The AFAN Chairman in Ekiti, Mr. Adebola Alagbada, said
establishment of ranches remains the best panacea to
farmers-herders’ clashes.

“Cattle ranches by government and individuals will help is
resolving all these crises. If Chief Obafemi Awolowo could
establish ranches across the southwest in 1958, why can’t we do
same in this millennium time?”

Similarly, the Head of Fulani in Ekiti State, Alhaji Adamu
Abache, called for registration of all members for easy
identification.

“It is true that farms were being destroyed, but if we had
registered with the local governments, we would have been able to
identify these itinerant Fulani killer herders would have been
known.

“We are not against arrest of criminals, but anytime they want
to arrest, the police and other security agencies must ensure that
the criminals are arrested not innocent Fulani herders”.

The Ajero of Ijero, Oba Joseph Adewole, lamented that;” People
had been killed in Orin and Isaba Ekiti and nobody had been
prosecuted. Some Fulani people are claiming that Nigerian lands
belong to them and that they must get it by force. Government must
arrest those making such incendiary comments?”