Fulani Socio-Cultural group, Miyetti Allah, Oyo State Chapter has urged Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde to release the Fulani militias who were dangerously armed, claiming that they are their members.
Oyo State Chapter Chairman of Miyetti Allah, Ibrahim Jiji made the call in Ibadan on Monday.
Armed men were arrested while on way for operations.
Oyo State command of the Nigeria Police confirmed their arrest on Monday, disclosing that a Joint Security Task Force in the State, ‘Operation Burst’ arrested the herdsmen with armed weapons around the Ofiki River along Tapa/Igangan Road in Ibarapa area of the state.
But the leadership of Miyetti Allah in Oyo insisted that the arrested Fulani herdsmen are not criminals, but vigilantes deployed by the association to assist Amotekun in addressing security concerns in Ibarapa.
“They invited us (Miyetti Allah) to a meeting in Ibadan where they told us that they needed our support to fight insecurity in Ibarapa area; so we told them that we are going to give them 50 among our vigilantes who are Fulanis,” Mr. Jiji told newsmen in Ibadan on Monday.
“Those people are not criminals but they are the people securing us. They are registered vigilantes and they are working with police and other security agencies,” he stated, while appealing to the state government to release the suspects from custody.
