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It is debilitating that on February 7, 2021, we were again thrown into another mourning session as a result of the gruesome murder of one of us, Dele Olowoniyi, by killer Fulani herdsmen. This happened around 1:00 a.m at Oha village in Imeko, Imeko-Afon Local Government area of Ogun State.
The unfortunate incident happened when Fulani herdsmen stormed the village at midnight, brandishing guns and machetes, shooting sporadically and destroying properties. Late Dele Olowoniyi, a farmer in his late 30s, was sleeping outside his house to enjoy the midnight breeze having complained of heat to his wife.
Hearing the sporadic gunshots from his sleep, he was too terrified to take decision on time. He was, there and then rounded up by the hoodlums who slaughtered him in a barbaric manner. They thereafter fled to Iwoye, a neighbouring town in the same Imeko/Afon local government area.
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INVESTIGATION: Inside the Igangan abductions, killings that exposed Oyo’s herder crisis
Destruction of farmlands by cattle - and herders - is barely avoidable in Nigeria s outdated open grazing system and criminals are taking advantage. 13 min read
Before Igangan, 177 kilometres from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was propelled to national attention in the past weeks, Taiwo Adeagbo, a local farmer-leader, had collected several photographs, depicting bloodied and savagely hacked human bodies. His collection also includes the photograph of a rape victim, lying sick with a machete cut.
The forceful removal of the Fulani population in the town by a group inspired by Sunday “Igboho” Adeyemo, a self-acclaimed Yoruba warlord, had catapulted Igangan into national prominence.
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Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta
RESIDENTS of Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State where a farmer was recently slaughtered by Fulani herdsmen have raised the alarm that the fleeing Fulani herdsmen from Oyo State have invaded their area, allegedly killing their people and destroying property.
The residents said famine was looming in their area following the invasion by the herdsmen, who they said, had forced farmers to abandon their farms for fear of being attack.
The local government shares a border with Igangan and Ijio in Oyo State and Benin Republic.
They spoke through a statement signed by some leaders of the residents; Southern Youth Assembly of Nigeria, Abdulakeem Mulero; National Youth Council of Nigeria, Saheed Oyeleye; Federation of Imeko-Afon Local Government Student Union, Adebia Adegoke and The Patriots, Imeko-Afon Local Government, Abel Babatunde.