We’re ready for Fulani herdsmen — Igangan youth
An indigene of Igangan community in the Ibarapa North local government area of Oyo state has said plans are underway by the youths of the community to protect themselves from any attack by Fulani herdsmen.
The young man who spoke on condition of anonymity said the people of the community were caught off guard in the recent attack which led to the death of some residents.
The herdsmen launched an attack on residents of the community over the weekend.
It was gathered that the herdsmen arrived at Igangan around 11pm on Saturday, leaving early Sunday morning with over 10 persons dead.
Despite calls put across to security agencies and the Nigeria police by residents, the killer herdsmen had a field day, attacking and slaughtering unarmed residents, the unnamed resident told Sahara Reporters.
According to him, this has propelled the young men in the community to seek means of protecting the lives and property of citizens in Igangan from murderers marauding as herdsmen.
He stated that some herdsmen were killed on Monday by unknown people in retaliation, this he said has given rise to speculations of a counter-attack by Fulani herdsmen.
“The youths are prepared,” he said.
He added, “The issue of killings in Igangan has been a source of worry to us. We are young, vibrant and agile men. The way the herders come and kill anyhow is quite challenging. They target us so it is wise for us to rise up and protect ourselves.
“They did horrible things to our people during the Sunday attack, they maimed, killed, and burnt down many properties yet we could do nothing but hide because we were not prepared. We know they came with sophisticated weapons so there was no way we could counter them with bare hands. But now, we are prepared, we won’t allow any scoundrel to make us handicaps.
“We will stand against anyone who wants to come and kill or do anything of sort against our mothers, fathers and brothers. We are peaceful people and we accommodated these people for long. If we say they should leave our land at this time, we have done nothing wrong, there is no justifiable basis for these attacks on us.”
He, however, said though there is tranquillity in the community at this time as people have yet to recover from the latest attack.
