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Insecurity in South West: Some Yoruba Obas conspires with Fulani criminals – Senator Fadahunsi
Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi representing Osun East Senatorial district, has alledged that some traditional rulers on the South West conspires with criminal elements among the Fulanis to kidnap, rape, and carrying out banditry and all forms of criminalities in the zone.
Speaking in a ‘no hold barred’ interview with journalists in Abuja, he lamented the involvement of some traditional rulers in criminality that happens in their domain, saying that the insecurity in South West has been on for long.
Reacting to eviction notice to Fulani herders by some South West governors, the lawmaker stated that its foreign Fulanis that are behind kidnapping, but were aided by some Obas who eventually employ them as marabouts.
He said: “If a stranger comes to your house, there is a norm, culture. Since the stranger cannot abide by your culture, he becomes an intruder, which is a criminal offence. In the whole Southwest today you cannot do what these animals are doing in the bush.
“What is ravaging the South West now; they are not the Hausa/Fulani people from Nigeria; not the Fulani who have been living with us for the past 100 years. They have not been killing people.
When asked, he denied that Yoruba leaders were divided in their reaction to the development in South West along party lines, lamenting that attacks knows no political party.
“They are the people shouting. The one in Niger state, are they not APC? The Fulani herdsmen, particularly the wicked ones from foreign land don’t know who is APC or PDP, Christian or Muslim. The only thing is that it is the government that encourages them.
“If you are arrested as a kidnapper and you are taken to court in Osun, which is 25 years and you are jailed, they will not do it.
“But the Fulani herdsman rearing the cattle up and down, the highest he can sell a cow is N300,000 to N350,000. By the time he sells one and declares N150,000 to the owner, he has nothing.
“Now that he has AK 47, which he brought from either Sudan, Libya, Chad, Niger, or Cameron, and he could come out, carry you, carry you, and your people are now begging him with N2 million, he will come back to the road.
“I confronted this problem long ago when this thing was rampant in my area, I summoned the Obas in Ijesha land in my constituency.
“There were about four or five cases of kidnapping and they were begging Fulani with N2 million and anybody who could not pay, they will waste the man. So, I boycotted the protocol and summoned the Obas because I knew it was the Obas that encouraged them in their domains.
“We then had an agreement in a closed-door meeting; if we hear anything, where they came in where they escaped, automatically I will use the youth to chase the Oba away.
“That was the agreement, it went down for about 4-5 years. Even during Aregbesola’s time, you won’t hear anything banditry in Osun state because he had maximum security. He bought bulletproof vehicles as if we were in war. He called the whole place security-wise. Even the case of a rape which he handled, was due to pleading we didn’t jail the Oba.
“So, we found out that it was the Obas who employed the Fulani herdmen as their herbalists in their domains to oppress their people.
“We even got one or two Obas’ children that we’re buying food for them and their victims. It was one of them that took us to 84 tents where they were in our area. We had to route them out. The are not the Hausa/Fulani that are living with us. When we asked them they said they don’t know them.”
“My opinion is that they are not Fulani per se. There is another problem in the Southwest now, the Zamfara illegal miners have moved into Osun destroying the land we are talking about and when they don’t have anything to till again or mine gold, they go to the road to commit crime.
“That is the problem we are having now. That of the herdsmen is a little problem there. Now that they have started leaving, reports have it that more than 4,000 of them have left for Kaduna and Kano.
“I salute the courage of the governor of Kano who has identified this enemy of peace and is going with southern governors that they should stop moving cows to that place because what is needed in the southwest, the cows are there with the Fulani rearers. So, we don’t need fbeso called Fulanis from Niger, Chad to be troubling us.
“By the time the President should agree that we should route them out, the IG tried his own because when I reported to him, he provided, he has been providing support but the problem is that most of the internal war which he is waging has been intercepted by the Army.
“If the Army has maintained their presence at the borders which Immigration and Customs don’t have the capacity to prevent these people from coming through the bush, if the Army had been there automatically they would not be able to penetrate into the internal security of the country.
“You see that they kill soldiers any how. About two weeks ago they went to Ifora, the home town of Pastor Adeboye, killed the police escort to to the Chinese other and carried the Chinese away. They kill any time.
“Those merciless people are not Nigerians. Why others are not doing the way we are doing is because they don’t have military background; they believe I the rule of law and these people believe in the rule of weapons.”
Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio has accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Elisha Abbo of being united I coordinated attacks against him lately.
He stated this following Natasha’s claims during a rally in her Kogi Central Senatorial District that he recruited the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello to assassinate her outside Abuja.
At the rally on Tuesday 1st April, 2025 which was monitored by CAPITAL POST in Lokoja, Natasha accused the former Governor Yahaya Bello, having been contacted late in the night of March 12, 2025 to orchestrated ‘recall and assassination’ of her outside Abuja.
Natasha said she has intelligence reports that when she is killed in her Constituency, “it will look as if it’s her people that killed her.”
Though Bello was yet to issue a statement debunking the allgations or otherwise, Senate President on his part denied the allegation and described it as falsehood and inflammatory.
Reacting in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publici, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh on Friday, Akpabio accused former Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial, Elisha Abbo of toeing the similar part of blackmail, saying barely 24 hours later, on April 2, 2025, Elisha Abbo appeared on Arise Television to revive a previously withdrawn claim that Senator Akpabio “manipulated the judiciary” to secure his removal from the Senate.
The statement said: “Nigerians will recall that Mr. Abbo, in 2023, publicly retracted this same accusation and tendered an apology after acknowledging that his claims were founded on incorrect assumptions.
“His removal from office was the outcome of a constitutionally grounded judicial decision by the Court of Appeal, which independently determined that he was not duly elected to represent Adamawa North.
“In a further twist, Mr. Abbo also alleged that he was denied his entitlements by the Senate President. This, too, is categorically false. Entitlements such as salaries and allowances are processed strictly through administrative and legal procedures.
“The Senate President does not and cannot unilaterally approve or deny such requests. Any delays or rejections would have been based solely on due diligence and compliance with established protocols.
“The timing, tone, and striking similarity of these coordinated attacks point clearly to a politically motivated smear campaign. These individuals—backed by undisclosed interests—appear united in a desperate effort to undermine the credibility of the Senate and its leadership and intended to distract from their own personal and political shortcomings and failings.
“Senator Godswill Akpabio remains undeterred. As a statesman devoted to national unity, institutional integrity, and the rule of law, he will not be distracted by malicious falsehoods or inflammatory rhetoric.
“Regardless of the necessity for legal redress, formal letters of demand, seeking immediate public retractions, apologies, and compensation for reputational harm, are underway to be served on both Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Mr Elisha Abbo.
“We call on the Nigerian public in particular and the International Community to reject these baseless and provocative narratives. The Senate, under Senator Akpabio’s leadership, remains focused on its constitutional mandate: to promote legislative excellence, safeguard democratic values, and deliver meaningful progress for the Nigerian people”, the statement concluded.
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, has expressed heartfelt sympathy over the demise of Hon. Suleiman Muhammed, the Kogi East Zonal Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a condolence message to the family of the deceased and members of the APC in Kogi state, described the sudden passing of the APC Zonal chairman as a loss not only for the party in Kogi East but the entire APC family in the state.
According to the Governor “The late Hon. Suleiman Muhammed was a man of peace, humility, and one who demonstrated commitment to the service of the state and the APC as a party. He carried the aspirations of his people with dignity; his leadership was widely respected and his contributions deeply valued within and beyond the APC in Kogi East”.
“He was instrumental in strengthening party cohesion and promoting inclusive dialogue. His presence in every party engagement brought stability and thoughtful leadership to our consultations in the zone.”
Governor Ododo further noted that Hon. Suleiman’s calm temperament, sense of fairness, and ability to listen distinguished him as a unifying figure in the party.
The Governor also extends condolences to the family of the deceased, the leadership and members of the APC in the state, the people of Dekina local government area and the entire Kogi East Senatorial District.
He prayed that Almighty Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings and grant him Aljanatul Firdaus.
The late APC zonal chairman who served as the APC coordinator in Odu Ward 2 before becoming the zonal chairman of the party in Kogi East died at the age of 45 and has been laid to rest according to Islamic rites.
News
Assassination Plot: Natasha’s manipulative theatrics to whip public sentiments worrisome – Akpabio
President of the Senate, Godswill Obot Akpabio has accused the suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of manipulative theatrics on the sensibilities of the Nigerian public to whip sentiments.
He said his attention has been drawn to claims by the embattled lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District that he recruited the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello to plot her assassination outside Abuja.
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Senate President, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh and made available to CAPITAL POST on Friday in Abuja, Akpabio described Natasha’s claims as inflammatory and highly condemnation.
Denying the accusation, Akpabio noted that the outrageous and false accusation in Natasha’s address to her constituents on Tuesday 1st April, 2025 was meant to malign him lately.
Part of the statement read: “The Office of the President of the Senate strongly condemns the recent baseless, false and inflammatory accusation made by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in which she falsely alleged that the Senate President, His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was involved in a plot to assassinate her.
“While speaking in Kogi State on April 1, 2025, the suspended Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan recklessly and maliciously claimed that Senator Godswill Akpabio “recruited” former Governor Yahaya Bello to “assassinate her in Kogi State rather than in Abuja.”
“This outrageous accusation is not only false but a complete fabrication and deeply irresponsible and dangerous attempt to provoke public unrest, attract media attention, and discredit the person and office of the President of the Senate for ulterior motives.
“It is important to remind the public that this same individual had previously made an unsubstantiated accusation of sexual harassment against Senator Akpabio—a claim she seem to have abandoned without explanation.
“Having failed to gain traction with that narrative, she has now escalated her campaign of misinformation to a deadly and defamatory dimension.
Akpabio further explained how Natasha had engaged in this troubling pattern in years past, hence, attention of Nigerians have been drawn to such filthy games that shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“This pattern of deliberate falsehoods and manipulative theatrics reveals a troubling willingness to exploit public sensitivities through recurring victimhood narratives.
“It is a matter of public record that she has previously made assassination allegations against former Governor Yaya Bello and others in 2019 and 2023, along with multiple unsubstantiated claims of sexual harassment against other dignitaries.
“Her recurring persecution narrative and evident lying complex should not be weaponized to malign individuals or destroy hard-earned reputations.
Interestingly, this latest reckless allegation is not occurring in isolation”, he concluded.
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