The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan Zonal Office, on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, secured the conviction of one Akinrinmade Adeniyi to three months imprisonment for an offence bordering on impersonation before Justice Mohammed Abubakar of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He pleaded guilty to one count charge of fraudulent impersonation contrary to Section 22(2) (b) (i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, brought against him by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the EFCC.
Aside from the jail term, the Court also ordered him to restitute his victim the sum of USD 500 (Five Hundred United States Dollars). He is also to forfeit his Toyota Lexus ES330, one Techno K7 phone, and one HP Laptop to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the EFCC, being part of the proceeds derived from his fraudulent act.
The Rector of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Dr Oluremi Nurudeen Olaleye has observed that coconut trees are the best plants that naturally removes excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Carbon sequestration) to mitigate global warming. This was noted by the Rector during the flag-off of 2,000 coconut trees planting exercise at the Ikorodu campus of the Polytechnic on Monday, 8th March, 2021.
Dr Olaleye intimated that Agriculture has been given a special place in his Nine Point Agenda, which is why he is keen to deliver more in this regard to further boost our productivity and compete as a world-class Agricultural tertiary institution. However, he also mentioned that his administration will partner with multinational investors to improve agricultural development in the institution.
He mentioned that the reason for the planting was to take advantage of the important nature of coconut, noting that it cannot be overemphasized.
Dr Nurudeen noted that coconut can be used for a wide range of purpose, as to enhance the sustenance of our wellbeing as a people, due to its multiple advantages, ranging from ornamental, economical and food security.
Olaleye also emphasized that it is appropriate for us as an institution to be problem solvers to our host communities and the nation at large and to also improve the Internally generated revenue (IGR) of the institution.
The Dean, School of Agriculture, Dr Adebayo Ashafa appreciated the Management for the initiative, stating that staff and students are much ready to key into whatever agricultural plans the Polytechnic will venture into.
E-signed Olanrewaju Kuye Director, Information and Public Relations
Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello has denied reports that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had a zoning arrangement ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
There have been growing calls for the APC to zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the Southern part of Nigeria.
Recall Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State had said that the southern region of the country should be allowed to produce the next president of Nigeria in 2023.
Bello joined his Kaduna counterpart, Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other prominent northern politicians who had made similar calls in recent days.
But speaking to reporters in Abuja over the weekend, Yahaya Bello said anyone from any zone was free to contest for presidency in 2023, as there was no zoning arrangement in the APC.
He said: “There is nothing like zoning in our party. In 2015, there was no zoning; many aspirants, including former governor Rochas Okorocha contested.
“In 2019, there was no zoning; people in APC were not courageous enough to contest with President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Asked if he is interested in the 2023 presidency, Bello said: “If it’s the will of God for me to become president in this country at the right time, I will be.”
The Kogi governor reiterated that he would defeat any candidate he decides to contest against for the 2023 presidency with a record-breaking vote.
“I will record a vote that has never been recorded in Nigeria by the grace of God. But that’s not the issue right now; the issue is there must be Nigeria before we talk of 2023,” the governor added.
As Nigeria commenced its vaccination against the lethal coronavirus infection on Friday, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has said he won’t receive the vaccine even as his colleagues are expected to receive shots of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccines in the coming days.
Bello spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
He also said there was nothing medically wrong with him and he won’t allow the people of the state to be used as “guinea pigs”.
But speaking on Friday, the Kogi governor said, “COVID-19 is not our business in Kogi State. We have more pertinent issues and more pertinent matters that we are attending to in Kogi State. Insecurity we met, we’ve tackled it and several others. Disunity we met on ground and we have united Kogi State today not COVID-19.
“COVID-19 is just a minute aspect of what we are treating or handling in Kogi State; there have been outbreaks of Lassa Fever and Yellow Fever and those were handled without making noise about it.
“The last Yellow Fever (outbreak), we vaccinated out people against Yellow Fever, we encouraged them, we educated them and they felt the impact…If the Federal Government is gracious enough and give us COVID-19 vaccines, we will equally sensitise our people, people who wish to come and take can come and take but I am not going to subject the people of Kogi State to vaccines or vaccination and I will not make them the guinea pigs.
Continuing, Bello said, “Mr President is the leader of this country. I respect him so high; all of us respect him so much. We love him and he is leading by example. If he needs to take the vaccines and he takes it, it is a welcome development.
“As far as I am concerned, I as a person, I don’t need to take vaccines. There is nothing wrong with me, I am hale and hearty. I am 100 per cent healthy…I won’t take any vaccine.”
I was lured into homosexuality by 18-year-old boy, 42-year-old man alleges
A 42-year-old man, Seyi Balogun arrested by the Ondo state security outfit codenamed Amotekun has alleged that he was lured and seduced into homosexuality by an 18-year-old boy, Tosin Arifalo.
The two suspects were arrested by the security outfit at Kajola in Ijoka, Akure, the Ondo state capital.
Vanguard gathered that the suspects were caught in the act by personnel of Amotekun and have been transferred to the office of the Civil Defence for further interrogation.
According to Balogun,” I was never into it before, it was Tosin that came to me saying he loves me.
”I don’t like homosexual act, he seduced me, he lured me into it. I told him to give me rest of mind, but when he was threatening me I have to obey him.
“Since then, we have been having sex together. What I can say is that the devil caused it, and I have warned him not to come to my house again.
But Tosin also in an interview narrated how he was lured by Balogun adding that they have had sex three times before the bubble burst. “How can I lure him into it. He’s saying the opposite.
”Anytime he wanted to have sex with me, he would take me to his house at Kajola in Ijoka.
According to him ”it was Balogun that introduced me to one of his friends, Olojijo who had been having sex with me too”
Tosin added that Olojijo had sex with him many times.
Their neighbours who witnessed the arrest described the act as “sinful and an abominable act”
In a bid to further boost security in the state, the Government of Oyo State has approved the procurement of 20 units of JAC FRISON TX pick-up vans at the cost of N319 million. The government, also, in line with the commitment of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde’s administration to remodel and equip at least one Primary Health Centre in each of the 351 Wards of the state, approved the renovation of 299 Health Centres across the state.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the approval for the procurement of the vehicles and the remodelling of 299 PHCs were part of the resolutions reached at the Executive Council Meeting held on Wednesday. The statement indicated that a press briefing was addressed by the Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, his counterpart in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bashiru Bello, and the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral resources, Barr.Temilolu Ashamu.
Olatubosun, while speaking on the decisions taken, said that the approval for the procurement of the vehicles was in line with the government’s drive to secure the lives and properties of the people in the state. He said that the 5th State Executive Council meeting of 2021 approved the procurement of the 20 units of JAC FRISON TX pick-up vans at a total cost of N319 million.
He said: “In view of the current security challenges facing the country, the state government has been proactive about it and it is necessary to boost the efforts of the administration in further arresting the situation by procuring additional vehicles for the security agencies and other exigency purposes. “In view of this, the State’s Executive Council, at the 5th Exco meeting of 2021 held today, Wednesday, approved the procurement of 20 units of JAC FRISON TX pick-up vans to boost security in the state and the cost is N319,000,000.” Similarly, his counterpart in the Health Ministry, Dr. Bashiru Bello, said the council approved the renovation and reconstruction of 299 primary health care facilities in the state at the cost of Six billion Naira N6,000,000,000, using the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA).
He equally added that the primary health care board will renovate the remaining 52 primary health care centres to make 351 wards as promised by the governor. According to him, “we are here to inform you that today, the State Executive Council approved the Alternative Project Funding Approach, APFA, for the renovation and reconstruction of some primary health facilities in Oyo State. “A total number of 299 have been given to two different firms and this is on the ground that the project will commence and, within two months, over 20 per cent of the project would have been completed.
“His Excellency has approved that there will be one per ward, and since we have 351 wards, the primary health care board will take care of the remaining 52 primary health care centres to be renovated and remodelled. “Mind you, the state is not putting in any money as of now. It is when the project continues that the payment will be spread over a period of 12 months. The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources Barr. Temilolu ‘Seun, in his contribution, said that the Council also granted approval for the connection of 28 Transformers across three Senatorial Districts of the state at the cost of N247,000,000. He said: “It will be recalled that some years back, transformers were procured and distributed to local government areas across the state, many of which have actually not been connected or energized.
“Aware of the financial constraints that the state, the country and the world are facing at the moment, we decided that it was cost-effective to commence a campaign of connecting the transformers that are already within our society. “Consequently, the Council approved that the campaign begins and should be phased, by connecting 28 transformers across each senatorial district in the state.
“It is a phased implementation plan, and this is just the first phase, which is being announced. The transformers that I mentioned are already within the society and they are procured with public funds but they are not of use for members of the society at the moment. “We have taken a deliberate decision to energize those transformers so as to derive value for the monies that have been expended. “The cost implication is about N247,000,000.”
Abubakar Kawu Baraje, an ex-chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC in Kwara State has traced the origin of the current insecurity in the country to the influx of Fulani from neighboring countries like Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Niger and Chad brought into the country for election purposes in 2015.
He said this in Ilorin as part of activities to mark his 70th birthday anniversary.
He also backed self-help initiatives of the south west governors, stating that responses of Sunday Igboho to the herdsman menace were necessary because the Federal Government failed in its principal responsibility to secure life and property.
According to Kawu Baraje, the chairman of the breakaway faction of PDP that formed the nucleus of the current ruling party APC, the Fulani men causing havoc in the country are not aboriginal to Nigeria.
“We are not asking the right question on how the same Fulani we have been living with suddenly turned out a menace”.
“We also must ask how they had access to their guns,” the ex-party chairman asked.
Baraje stated that the Fulani men wreaking havoc in the country are not the Nigerian Fulanis.
“The security agencies have not been opened about the nature of the problem”.
“They have made arrests. Why haven’t they told the public who the terrorists are,” asked Baraje”.
According to him, the Fulani causing security problems in the country were brought in to help facilitate victory in the 2015 election”.
“After the election, the Fulanis have refused to leave. I and other like minds wrote and warned those we started APC with that this was going to happen but nobody listened,” he explained.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the National Assembly would support the Independent National Electoral Commission in its bid to provide a secure and safe voting environment, with the ultimate aim of fostering democracy by ensuring electoral integrity and transparency in the conduct of elections.
Lawan made this known while speaking during a meeting between the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters and a delegation from the Independent National Electoral Commission, led by its Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu.
In his presentation, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, while underscoring the need for the creation of additional Polling Units across the country, said the current configuration of 119,973 Polling Units was established by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) in 1996.
According to him, “the problem of voter access to Polling Units has far reaching implications for the quality of elections and democracy in Nigeria. It is tied to a most fundamental aspect of democratic governance which is the right to vote.”
He explained that previous attempts by the Commission to expand voter access to polling units resulted in the creation of “Baby units” to serve the rapidly growing Federal Capital Territory in 2007.
He added that, “in 2014, in the buildup to the 2015 general election, the Commission proposed the creation and distribution of additional 30,027 new polling units.
“This was with the objective of decongesting overcrowded polling units and dispersing voters as evenly as possible to disruptions, delays and violence on Election Day.”
The Senate President, in a speech delivered during the meeting, emphasized the need for more polling units to be created to ensure voter safety and a better voting environment in Nigeria.
According to him, the creation of more polling units across the country would facilitate ease of access and enable registered voters exercise their civic rights of participating during elections.
He said: “Let me assure the Chairman of INEC and, indeed, Nigerians, that the National Assembly will support INEC fully, completely and wholly in ensuring that we provide a better voting environment for our citizens.
“Whatever it takes, we will do so because democracy is about participation by the people, and voting is probably the most important thing a citizen could do to decide who leads him or her.
“Therefore, to provide a more convenient, safe and secured environment for voters is one thing that the National Assembly would always support INEC.
“And, we have supported INEC many times, whether through budgeting or other engagements that will facilitate the work of INEC, therefore, this one is a request that we should not even hesitate to grant. So, you have our support.
“On behalf of everyone in the National Assembly, I want to assure Nigerians that the National Assembly is ready and willing to support INEC to do better, especially in the area getting more polling units.”
The Senate President, who underscored the need for more eligible Nigerians to participate during elections, charged politicians, political parties and Civil Society Organizations to mobilize registered voters ahead of the forthcoming General Elections in 2023.
According to him, mobilizing more registered voters to participate during elections would improve Nigeria’s electoral process besides the creation of more polling units by the Commission.
“The issue is not only creating more polling units but even mobilizing voters to participate, because if you have 85 million, and at the end of the day, just about 29.8 million go out to vote, it means you have left out about 50 million Nigerians.
“And, that is not a responsibility of INEC alone. Mobilization of voters is something that politicians and political parties are also supposed to do. And, of course, the same with Civil Society Organization that have any relationship interest or concerns with voters or voting.
“So, in addition to getting more polling units, we need to also mobilize voters to go to those polling units to vote.
“Probably, now our challenge would be how do we improve from 35 percent to something like 50 percent in the 2023 Presidential election, because that confers more legitimacy when more voters come out to vote,” he said.
Lawan, therefore, urged INEC to identify communities where voter access is severely restricted as a result of insufficient polling units, and create additional polling units to enable registered voters participate during elections.
His words: “There are so many communities that go through this rigorous struggle to go and vote because of the limited number of voting or polling units, but they might have not written to you to say they need more polling units.
“I would urge INEC, therefore, that we should go beyond those communities that have requested for additional polling units.
“We should have a very fair and equitable process where even communities that have not requested for polling units are covered, because some may not even know where to go.
“Probably, those that have requested are those that are more enlightened, and there could be so many suffering from this.
“But there are so many of this kind of community suffering, so we should have a diligent process that will give people who have not requested for additional polling units to have more polling units, otherwise we may end up creating additional polling units or moving other polling units to those areas we think are not served or covered properly, and still have other people suffering in silence.”
On the Electoral Act amendment presently before the National Assembly, the Senate President said the Senate and the House of Representatives “are working so hard and the two chambers are prepared to look into the report.”
“Let me take this opportunity to assure Nigerians that the Electoral Act amendment – the Constitutional review that our committees in the House and Senate are doing – would be passed before we go on our second break. Our second break is normally between June and July.
“We want to do a very thorough job, we want to create legislative amendments that will ensure that our electoral environment is enhanced, that our elections are better in terms of integrity and transparency,” he added.
Three members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) were reportedly killed on Sunday in the Ojoo area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State had in 2020 proscribed NURTW and later made a former chairman of NURTW in the state, Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary, the chairman of park managers.
After this, the NURTW in the state, led by Abideen Olajide, popularly called Ejiogbe, approached the state High Court to declare park managers illegal, and stop auxiliary from parading himself as the chairman.
However, the High Court last week nullified the appointment of park managers inaugurated in 2020 by the Seyi Makinde-led administration.
Justice M. A. Adegbola, who presided over the case filed by Ejiogbe, described as illegal the collection of rates by the park managers appointed by the state government and therefore granted an injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, proxies, or whoever from interfering with the management and affairs of motor parks in Oyo State and from collecting any rates and dues from any of the parks or commercial drivers in Oyo State.
Members of NURTW in the state challenged park managers to vacate the parks for them to operate after the court nullified the appointment of park managers.
A member of NURTW, Kazeem Ekolo, said three members of NURTW were killed on Sunday. “Three people were killed. Those killed are all members of NURTW. They killed them and evacuated their corpses. The governor must be proactive,” he said.
Meanwhile, no fewer than four people were shot at Ifeleye market, Ibadan Northwest Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that hoodlums from the Ifoko area of Ibadan arrived at the area around 7:30 pm and started shooting sporadically.
A resident of Oke Padre, Abass Kareem, said: “Those hoodlums came back last night. They shot four people and when the police repelled their attack, they left but returned late at night. The insecurity is getting too tense in Ibadan,”he said.
Rafiu Kolawole Abdulrasaq, a security expert and former PA (Security) to former Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, former, Chairman FIRMA Lagos and later SURE-P under President Goodluck Jonathan amongst others, speaks with Gboyega Alaka on the ongoing battle against Fulani herdsmen being championed by Sunday Adeyemo (AKA Sunday Igboho), the danger of ethnic profiling, how he once orchestrated Igboho’s arrest back in 2010 and why he is not fit to carry the light for the Yoruba.
You have quite a reputation working with politicians, especially in the area of security. Tell us about it.
My name is Abdulrasaq Rafiu Kolawole aka OTO (for Authority). I attended St Paul’s Primary School and Archbishop Aggey Memorial Secondary School, both in Idi -Oro Mushin; I later attended Olabisi Onabanjo University. I also passed through Dubai Police College. I am a security expert. I was former head of bodyguard to former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola; former head of bodyguard to Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Chairman task-force under former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State and former PA Security to former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola. Before then, I was also once chairman, FIRMA under former President Obasanjo, Chairman task-force on Sure-P under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
You seem to have a particular interest in the ongoing Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho onslaught against the rampaging killer Fulani herdsmen. Tell us about it
I am here today because of what is currently going on in Oyo State. This guy called Sunday Igboho as far as I am concerned has been trying to create tension – unfortunately, many people do not know who he really is. Throughout the world, Yoruba are known and regarded as intelligent and accommodating people and we would not and should not allow someone to spoil our name, image and integrity under the pretext of fighting Fulani herdsmen – because the implication of what he is doing is such that the Yoruba people would not be able to handle. Again, the whole world looks at the Yoruba as the livewire of Nigeria, so why should a person like Igboho be our representative or mouthpiece? Yoruba are not hooligans!
What exactly do know about Sunday Adeyemo aka Igboho?
Igboho is a man on the streets and capable of all manners of atrocities. You can quote me on that. I am also on the streets. I have been on the streets since 1976. You can ask about me in Yaba. So we know ourselves. There are some people who would be involved criminal activities in a community but would assisting people; that assistance is to cover up their tracks so that people would not know who they really are. Sometimes in 2010, specifically around December leading to the first Iwude Day in Osun State, I personally, as Special Assistant on Security to former Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, orchestrated the arrest of Igboho after I got a reliable intelligence that he had been induced to eliminate some prominent politicians. I petitioned the IG of Police, Onovo and they referred the matter to Osogbo Command, while they got him arrested. Their plan was to wear fake uniform and commit the dastard act on the first Iwude Day of that 2010.
You had to go to Abuja?
Yes. My principal, Aregbesola objected to use of force or confrontation. He said we should do everything legal to foil their plan. That was why I ran to the IG’s office in Abuja and wrote a petition, which I signed myself. The police said they would get him arrested. They actually invited him but due to the people that he was working for that I would not want to mention here for obvious reasons, the case was buried. Besides, those people may have repented but I cannot say the same of Igboho himself.
Are you saying Igboho was a political thug?
Yes, he was a political thug. He was being used by the PDP. I know because even I am a former member of the PDP. I was Chairman SURE-P under Obasanjo – it was called FERMA then and later chairman SURE-P Federal Task-Force under Jonathan. We know ourselves very well and I can tell you that he has tentacles everywhere, including Lagos. I know them and I know their mission. So how can such a person be representing the Yoruba race? It is his likes that went to burnt TVC and other infrastructure during the EndSARS protests – all these people who come from far flung places and live in the market. Why should anybody be living in the market? Area boys carrying guns! During Obasanjo’s time, the police and the military invaded the places and took all of them to Panti. I’m a Lagosian; you can never see any true-born Lagosian who will be so mad as to go and sit-out at Lekki Toll plaza and engage in such vandalism.
These are weighty allegations, what if Igboho takes you to court?
He dare not. I told you I wrote a petition to the police and got him arrested. Why didn’t he take me to court then? Everything I say here, I can substantiate but that will be to the police or DSS, not to you people. Anything security has to be covert. If anyone doubts me, let the police investigate him from his youthful day. They should monitor his call logs.
But this is the same man who said he met Asiwaju personally and that the man even gave him a gift of N2million…
That’s a lie, don’t mind him. The truth is that Asiwaju is such a responsible person and everybody wants to attach themselves to him.
How about the part Senator Babafemi Ojodu wrote about him?
Of that, I do not know, because I was not present there. I will only say what I am sure of. Well, you may have your reservations about him and indeed, he may have his past, but by taking up this cause against the killer Fulani herdsmen, people are beginning to accept Igboho as fighting a good cause.
Are you saying he is not doing the right thing? He is not doing the right thing. If truly he wants to help his people, what he should do is contact the security personnel, and tell them ‘such and such is happening in my home town and I have tried my best to resolve it without much success; I have also gone to their Seriki and nothing positive is happening; I need you people to step in. We are ready to support you. We know where these people are….’ And then work in conjunction with the security officers, so that whatever you do is legal. We don’t want Nigeria to become another Palestine. In Palestine, there is no law. If somebody slaps me, I’d go home and bring all my people to come and beat you up and all your people, including your mother. We don’t want Nigeria to degenerate into that kind of society.
What are the police there for? What are the DSS there for?
But people have come out to say that the police have not done anything after several reports and petitions about the evils being perpetrated by these people, even siding with them in some cases.
That does not justify anything. Listen, in the 1970s, we had Babatunde Folounsho, the best armed robber of the year; we had Oyenusi; we had Mighty Joe – all Yoruba.
Would that mean that all Yoruba are armed robbers? In Babangida’s time, there was Anini, Osunbo, Iyamu, the police inspector. They were the ones terrorising the whole of Benin and by extension, Nigeria.
Would that mean that all Benin people were armed robbers? Go and check Google; you would see all the crimes being perpetrated and serial killers. The young boy killing women in Ibadan; is he a Fulani man? Why didn’t they go and kill his whole family? I am not saying all is well or that there is no problem in our communities concerning these Fulani herdsmen; physically, I have not seen or experienced any of their violence and as a Muslim, I don’t say what I don’t know, but the issue is that if truly this thing is happening, you have to investigate and fish out who and who are involved, not indict a whole ethnic group. What is presently unfolding can lead to religious war or ethnic war. Already, some Muslims are seeing it as ‘They are killing Muslims.’ Even Yoruba Muslims. You may have noticed that they are not talking. Because the Quran says you Muslims are all brothers. Allah says he has bind you with one rope; but if any one of you is a criminal, you can identify that criminal and remove him from your community or eliminate him, but according to the law of the land. And you have to be sure of what you are doing; not guessing.
Fulani people have been living in our communities long before they even gave birth to my own grandparents and we never had any problem with them. The Hausa community is here in Mile 12; we don’t have any problem with them. Let everybody live in peace. Nigerians will go to America and be hoping to get an American passport in five years. Some even aim at political appointments. But here, you don’t want to see your fellow Nigerians. I lived in Dubai for four years; we know what some of our Nigerian brothers did there, robbing banks, committing ATM fraud, killing; I joined the Dubai police briefly and investigated them for the Dubai police, but would that mean that all Nigerians are criminals? You saw what happened during EndSARS protests, when some people killed policemen and roasted and ate them before camera. Are those human beings? Those are ritualists; they only need blood; they are the likes going about with Igboho.
Some people may say that you have been paid to rundown Igboho, whom they perceive as fighting a necessary fight.
God will punish that person that paid me. How can somebody pay me to rundown somebody? I have my own family and children and I will die one day. I am 57 years old. Do I want my children to grow up and face all these problems, which they don’t know anything about? All the people at the centre of this whole trouble know how to escape when the trouble finally erupts in our faces. You know, once you’re a criminal, you always know the paths through which to escape. Look, all this juju that they are flaunting is a bloody lie. When it is your time to die, you will surely die. All I am saying is that if Igboho has any issue, he should liaise with the police; not make a PDP/APC politics out of it. Igboho clearly has another mission.
Are you saying this whole battle is politically motivated?
Yes, but tactically. He is a PDP guy, so he may be fighting for the PDP.
How about the allegation that the soldiers and the police are aiding and abetting these criminal herdsmen?
That’s what they have been saying but can you swear to it? There are so many cases that they’d say Fulani herdsmen but after investigating and arrests are made, you find that the people behind them are not Fulani men. The godogodo that has killed over one hundred policemen, is he a Fulani man? Is Evans a Fulani herdsman? Criminals now use Fulani herdsmen as cover-up. So until we start doing proper investigation, we may be endangering our society.
The governors in whose domains these violence are being perpetrated are also saying they don’t control the police…
That does not matter. I’m not in charge of security in my immediate community right now but I still use my discretion to discharge certain things. The governors hold meetings with the security agents nearly every week; you can call them to order. Tell them such and such is going on; exchange intelligence gathered and ideas on how to combat the issues. Personally, from your security vote, you can give them money and I can tell you that they would do it using their discretion. A governor can even write a petition as an ordinary citizen intimating them on what is happening and what you want them to do – not hide under the guise that you do not control the police. Ordinary individual that has money controls the police, how much more a governor. But if there is no report and the police just come there, people can say they came there illegally. We are not saying we do not have some bad people in the police but is it every police that is bad?
What advice do you have for the Southwest governors; don’t forget that Igboho also visited Ogun state, purportedly on the invitation of the governor?
No, the governor did not invite him. He said it publicly that he did not invite him. That’s why I said everything is politics. It’s just like this EndSARS madness. When they started their clamour, the government cooperated; the IG cooperated and said there would be no more SARS; but because they had another motive, another devilish agenda, they refused to stop. I was ready to face them, who will die will die but some people said we should let them be. You saw them burning everything. Is that how to right a wrong? Okay, they said some people stole money and went to buy houses in Dubai; can they go and burn the houses in Dubai? Asiwaju that they are all targeting is a Lagosian, he has the right to do business and own properties. If you have cogent evidence against him, write a petition to the EFCC or go to the station and make a report. This is a man who has done a lot to develop Lagos. Ikosi ordinarily is a local area; but by bringing TVC, a television of such a huge standard to the community, he has elevated its value. So how can anyone decide to burn such an edifice on the pretext of anger? They went to the palace of the most paramount monarch in Lagos and vandalised and desecrated it. Only bastard would do that. Can we go to Ibadan or Edo or Owerri and destroy their monarch’s palace? This is all about hatred for one man. You claim he is not a Lagosian; a man born in Lagos state, who has spent well over 50 years in Lagos State. There are also allegations that ransoms to free kidnapped people were paid to the Seriki… Can you swear to that? Have you investigated it? When you want to condemn somebody, you have to bring serious allegations against him. It’s just like what we’re saying about Asiwaju. He’s not a Lagosian, he’s a thief… Meanwhile, 70 percent of these people accusing him are people who came from outside Lagos. His mother, Abibatu Mogaji, never said he was not her son, so what is the problem of those who are investigating their relationship? It’s a private affair. Asiwaju is not the only person who has money in Lagos. Koro has money, Atiku has money, Dangote has money; are you saying we must not have a rich man in Lagos State? I am an indigene of Epe. I am proud of what Asiwaju has achieved for Lagos State.
Shall we then say that this interview is aimed at dousing the ethnic tension being fanned by Sunday Igboho and his boys?
Let me tell you, if we allow this Igboho issue to persist, come 2023, APC will not have access to other states. Those who are hailing and joining him do not understand that this. But Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, who is PDP, has condemned him and even called for his arrest…
All that is charade. We who are versed in their ways know this trick.
Call it what you like, but some people who know Igboho’s background may see this battle as a way of him legitimising and reintegrating himself into the good books of his people.
That may be true but that only happens when there is a scarcity of intelligent people or when the right people refuse to speak up. Any country where criminals become heroes will never have peace. Ask yourself, where are they getting the guns from? Who is sponsoring them? Which work is Igboho doing? Mark my words, if he is not tamed, he will get out of hand.
Finally, what is your position about Fulani herdsmen carrying guns?
No, no, I cannot support that. We are in a modern day. Fulani should go and buy land, fence it and ranch their cattle. That’s what they do everywhere – Dubai, America. Anybody whop wants to buy could always come there. That’s what we should be clamouring for. The present system is even dangerous; you see cattle colliding with vehicles on the way and causing deaths. When they enter a farm, they eat everything or destroy everything. Meanwhile the farmer has spent a lot of time, energy and money on the farm.
Peak News 
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