Residents of Ibarapa area of Oyo State have lost sleep despite the arrest of Iskilu Wakili, said to be a dreaded warlord terrorising the area.
Dwellers in Ibarapaland have been suffering attacks at the hands of killer herders who destroyed their farmlands with cattle, raped, killed and kidnapped many for ransom. Farmers are said to be the worst hit as those in communities such as Ayete, Igangan, Idere, Igboora, Tapa, Lanlate and Eruwa have harrowing tales to tell.
The development led a Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho to issue a seven-day notice to quit to Fulani herders in the area. Upon the expiration of the order, he went to Igangan. After he left, a mob reportedly torched the settlement of the Seriki Fulani of Igangan, Salihu Abdulkadir, accused by villagers of aiding several herders’ atrocities in the area.
But after chasing Abdulkadir out of the area, the battle appeared to have just begun as villagers noted that Wakili’s presence in the communities was dangerous to them. This much was affirmed by one of the children of the Seriki who reportedly posted on his Facebook page that the Fulani would return to wreak more havoc after lgboho left the communities. He was said to have added that Wakili was powerful.
It was noted that many had the impression that Wakili is a young man whereas he’s an old Fulani man accused of making life unbearable for the villagers in cahoots with his children and family members.
After the Seriki fled, it seemed the intensity of havoc in the area increased. The Asawo of Ayete, Oba Emmanuel Okeniyi, told our correspondent that he was told that Wakili invited more armed Fulani to his (Wakili’s) settlement in Kajola village to continue his alleged atrocious acts.
Some farmers who spoke with newsmen said Wakili used a red cloth to isolate a point where nobody dared pass in the settlement amid claims that he didn’t buy the about 400 acres of land housing his huts and farms. The farmers said they had pleaded with the security agents to flush out Wakili but were told that no government security agent went inside his settlement to challenge him. They noted that when the state governor, Seyi Makinde, visited some communities in Ibarapaland, they expected the governor to visit the place with his security but that didn’t happen. They also said the Amotekun Corps deployed in the area only stayed at the local government secretariat in Ayete and had never gone to Kajola area where Wakili and his men occupied.
Some of those who owned farms at Kajola, Dagbere, Konko, Baba Pupa, Afunnije and other areas said they couldn’t access their farms. They said the bold ones among them went in groups occasionally to pick a few things and return home.
It was learnt that some men from Odomofin compound once went to Kajola to serve Wakili a notice to quit but were allegedly attacked by Wakili’s men and fled for dear lives, leaving behind motorcycles which they said were allegedly destroyed by Wakili’s armed men.
The villagers thus resigned to fate until news filtered into Ayete and other Ibarapa communities on Sunday that the members of the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Gani Adams-led Oodua Peoples Congress captured the dreaded warlord. Their joy was however short-lived when they learnt that the OPC members were arrested by the police for capturing Wakili. They have, however, been released.
It was gathered that during the arrest of Wakili and his two sons, the OPC men were attacked by Wakili’s men but they were able to overpower them and carried out the arrests.
But speaking with journalists in Ibadan on Monday, Wakili said he was not a kidnapper and had no criminal record anywhere. He debunked allegations against him and challenged whoever had evidence against him to come forward with it.
Wakili, who the police said was taken to a hospital immediately he was handed over to them by the OPC men, said he went to Iparaku, Benin Republic on March 1 to treat an ailment and he returned to his base five days after.
He said, “Two days after my return from the hospital, I lay down because I was ill and suddenly some women rushed in and shouted that some OPC men were searching for me. I told them to run but I could not run because I was sick. Two men later came and picked me from where I lay. They threw me into their vehicle in my naked state. I fainted many times before they drove me to the police station in Igbo Ora. From there, they took me to Ibadan.