What I want people to know is that when you are pursued from outside, you take refuge in your home. That is what I’ve done in Ilorin. They just want to rope me in. You’ll recall that it was the so-called Tunji, aka Janbele, who led Sunday Igboho to my house to give a quit notice. I talked about his touts, Taiye and Kehinde Adeowo, who are presently in prison. Their case had become major issue between myself and him. These two guys had become so notorious in kidnapping that I had to report them several times to the police. 

On Friday January 22, violence erupted in the Fulani community of Igangan during which the houses and property of the Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, were burnt. He escaped by a whisker and has since found solace in Kwara State. But Kwarans are apprehensive of the backlash of his relocation. Midlandpost sought out the fairly old man to tell the story of the Ibarapa kidnapping saga. He did in this exclusive interview

Alhaji, you are aware that tension has heightened in Kwara State since you relocated here. People are not convinced that you are from Ilorin as you claimed; that you are only here to seek asylum. What would you say to these?

I am a bonafide indigene from Ilorin. My mother hailed from Baboko. My father was a herder who had his root at Abe-Emi in Ilorin, but because of the family’s occupation, my forebears relocated to Temidire in Asa Local Government Area. That was where I was born. My great-grandfather was born in Temidire, to tell you how long we have been in Temidire.

Our exit from Temidire was occasioned by a fire outbreak in Kuho village. I was around ten years old then, but I remember the incident vividly. A man called Ajibade rode a bicycle to our our Gaa in the wee hours of the morning to break the news of the fire incident. There would probably be some elders who would recall this incident.

Typically of our occupation, we moved from this community and relocated to the Western State. We were first in a place near Oyo but moved to Ibarapa with my father just after the Nigerian civil war. This was in the very early 70s. I have been in Igangan since that time.

Something positive happened to us shortly after we arrived in Igangan. This was the time when Federal Government created the Western State Grazing Reserve in the area. But it also brought the initial enmity between us and the community because they were of the view that government ceded the Grazing Reserve to us, the Fulanis.

But I have never for once forgotten my Ilorin root since I became a man. I am often in Ilorin because I have my family here. I have sons who work in the Kwara Civil Service as well as the Civil Defence. I built my house her in Ilorin some years back and I have never ceased coming home.

When was your last time in Ilorin?

The end of the year 2020 met me in my Ilorin home. I left in the first week of January. I have been playing my little part wherever there was a need. I remember your association, the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Kwara honoured me with an award of excellence for keeping the peace between the Fulanis and their neighbours. This was in 2014. So it was in Ibarapa and Igbo-ora. This is apart from being the Seriki Fulani of Ibarapa. I must make a clarification that I was first the Seriki Fulani, Ibarapa before the monarchs in the area presented me to Alaafin of Oyo and that was when I was crowned as the Seriki Fulani of Oyo State. In fact, I was never Seriki Fulani of Igangan as people are saying. I was made the Mogaji of Igangan.

Can a Yoruba Oba crown a Fulani as Mogaji of his community? 

I think he did it because of my contribution to the community, and I think I did enough. The first cow market, Kara was established by me and it later became a major money spinner for the community. Its impact contributed to the economic growth of Igangan and its suburb.

But if you did all that you said you did, what brought the issue of kidnapping and ransom taking that you have been accused of?

What I thought brought the problem is the issue I had with a particular popular politician in that community. He had thugs who were also into kidnapping. I reported this man to the police when it became apparent that the situation was getting out of hand.

What’s the name of this politician?

His name is Tunji, also called Janbele. At that time, they kidnapped some Fulani men and demanded for ransom. The kidnapped Fulanis were kept in their house and we started the process of negotiating their ransom. It was at the point of collecting the money that we arranged their arrest with the help of Fulani and Yoruba vigilante, including the police. As I speak with you, some of them are in Agodi Prison, in Ibadan today. Some are still with the police.

Did this happen in Igangan?

Yea, they are indigenes of Igangan.

But why are they claiming that you are the one who helped in collecting ransoms from families of the kidnapped victims?

They just want to tarnish my name. This is me who reported so many acts of kidnapping. I reported both the Fulani and Yoruba kidnappers from around the community. A recent case is the one that happened in a place called Lanlate. I helped the police to arrest the kidnappers of a victim whose husband was killed. The kidnapper is at Agodi Prison now. They just want to rope me in. You’ll recall that it was the so-called Tunji, aka Janbele, who led Sunday Igboho to my house to give a quit notice. I talked about his touts, Taiye and Kehinde Adeowo, who are presently in prison. Their case had become major issue between myself and him. These two guys had become so notorious in kidnapping that I had to report them several times to the police. The kidnapped and kept their victims in their house. It’s on record that Janbele came to my house several times to beg that I plead with the authorities for their release. These are guys who killed at times. I can mention names of Fulanis that they have kidnapped and collected ransoms. It became a headache for me at a point because the community thought I was exposing their children.

You stated at the press conference that you suffered much loss. Can you let us into your loss in specific terms?

It was quite huge. They burnt eight vehicles in my house. Three of them belonged to me while my sons had four. There was also a pick-up vehicle that we used to carry cows to the market. Among my cars were Venza, Lexux Jeep and Camry ‘Mussle’. I also lost the sum of N1.2m in cash burnt to ashes. All these are aside from my house which had separate four bedroom flats and the mosque within the house. There was also a veterinary clinic built by government, which was also raised down. I lost 206 cows as well as my large poultry farm.

Alhaji, virtually all the vehicles you mentioned are choice-cars. Could this be why the Igangan people believe that you collect ransoms or probably live above your means?

I have always been rich by God’s grace with proceeds from my cow business. Ask anyone who knows about the community. When the Oba of Igangan was installed in 1994, I provided all the cows that they used for the event. I gave them seven cows, precisely. He used my car for a long time before he bought one. This was in 1994. I’ve long been comfortable, even as Fulani man in a rural community.

There is apprehension in Kwara State. It was reported recently that nine trailer loads of Fulanis were sighted in the Southern part of Kwara in just one day all because you are here now. How do you want to allay the fear of Kwarans that the State would not witness the Igangan saga?

I don’t see any need for fear or apprehension. All that happened to me in Igangan were mere envy and backlash of my role in the issue of kidnapping in the area. I have never been a criminal and will never be. The Igangan people can never hold me down to a crime.

From among my children are six graduates, who are all doing well. I have one who was in Oversea. I have remained in Igangan for 50 years and God has been kind to me. My fortune did not come now, it grew over the years. I have never gone to the police station to bail any of my children, nor me seeking for bail. I have been recognized for awards and special recognitions by different bodies within the communities.

That you’re seeing the Fulanis here in number today is an aftermath of the Ibarapa incident as you have said but not in the way people are looking at it. The Sunday Igboho and other groups’ threats were also extended to other Fulanis around the area. Many of them, like me are migrants from Ilorin. I’m not saying all o. but I’m aware that many left because I left.

What I want people to know is that when you are pursued from outside, you take refuge in your home. That is what I’ve done in Ilorin. (Bi ita ba le’ni, ile la a sa’wa ni wiwa ti mo wa)

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