Fulani herdsmen accused of raping, killing woman

A mother of three, Mrs. Ayesi Balogun, was allegedly raped and killed on Saturday by some suspected Fulani herdsmen at Asa village in the Oja Odan area of theYewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State.

The victim was said to have been killed after being raped on her farm.

A statement in Abeokuta by the Ketu Advancement Front stated this on Monday.

It was signed by its coordinator and secretary, Kunle Abiose and Joseph Bankole respectively.

The statement, which had been sent to relevant security agencies in the state, read in part, “We, members of the Ketu Advancement Front want to register our strongest protest with the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led government over the callous abdication of its constitutional responsibility of ensuring the security of lives of the Ketu people from wanton killing by marauding herdsmen.

“We are sad to announce that Mrs. Ayesi Balogun, a poor mother of three, was raped and hacked to death on her farm in Asa, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State, over the weekend by Fulani herdsmen.

“On sighting her entering the farm, the killer-herdsmen who had taken over her farm, pounced on her, probably gang-raped her before hacking her to death.”

According to the statement, Balogun’s case brought to 25, the number of innocent and poor people who had been sent to their early graves in agonising and dehumanising circumstances.

It added, “The latest in the series of the ceaseless murder cases has been reported to the Oja-Odan Police Station.

“Our displeasure is premised on the fact that despite our unabating protest, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the government and the herdsmen in 2014, the government which has the overall duty of providing security and ensuring peace of our people has turned deaf ears and blind eyes to our people’s plight.”

The state police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed that Balogun’s corpse was found on the farm, adding that it had not been established that she was killed by Fulani herdsmen.

He said it might be a reprisal killing by the Fulani herdsmen because “a few days ago a corpse of a Fulani man was found in the bush in the same area.”

Adejobi said the command had summoned the Yoruba and Fulani leaders in the area to a meeting on Tuesday (Today) in Abeokuta. Culled