Chief Kehinde Ege, the Oluode of Ibadanland (Head of Hunters), has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to empower and provide logistics for local hunters and vigilante groups in Oyo State to prevent imminent attacks from bandits and kidnappers who had been chased out of the northern states by the Military.
The Oluode also called on the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheik Abdulganiyu Agbotomokekere, to warn Muslims in the state to stop wearing 3/4 length pairs of trousers called ‘teblik’ clothes and moving about at dawn, especially around mosques.
He said this on the Fresh FM radio programme in Ibadan on Sunday in reaction to the alarm recently raised by Governor Makinde that bandits and kidnappers have infiltrated the state.
The governor had said that during his low-key birthday celebration at Fasola Farms in Oyo, he gathered security reports that some bandits were camping about two kilometres from where he was staying.
The Oluode said that but for transportation logistics problems he and some of his men encountered recently, they would have arrested five kidnappers who were said to be camping and sleeping with AK 47 riffles in their possession at a certain town in the state.
He said they needed the government’s nod to go and arrest the kidnappers, but when they approached the Police for backup, they were frustrated at the Station where they were told that the vehicle was not available.
“We left the station and went to the forest, combed it thoroughly, but the bandits had left, unfortunately. They might have been hinted of our coming”, he lamented.
He also hinted that they had been informed that some bandits were moving about around Akinyele local government area of Ibadan, wearing Muslim dresses to camouflage, and by so doing, monitoring mosques and planning how to attack and kidnap unsuspecting worshippers who go there to pray early in the morning.
While calling on Governor Makinde to assist local hunters and vigilantes with the provision of at least a Hilux vehicle and some motorcycles to move to any distressed areas in the state, the Oluode also implored community heads (Baales) to stop selling lands to foreigners who bring juicy money through Yoruba proxies to procure acres of land to build houses and establish ranches. “Through this, enemies have been camping in our midst unknowingly”, he said.
Oluode also said that some bandits are already camping in some bushes at Ido Town, Ibadan, along Eruwa. “We know where they are, but we need government approval and support to root them out. We could have gone there based on information, but our concern is that the government might say they didn’t send us.
“I am therefore calling on our governors and monarchs in the South West generally, as well as, our Baales, to wake up and fortify their communities against the influx of these bandits who were chased out of the Northern states.
“We hunters don’t need guns to fight the AK 47-carrying bandits before we get them. Let the government just support us with mobility and we will deal with them”, he said.
