Residents of Isaba Ekiti in the Ikole Council area of Ekiti State, on Saturday, protested the killing of two farmers by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The victims – Toyin Akeju, popularly known as Jisoro in the community, while the other, simply called Daodu, a labourer invited to work on the farm – were said to have been killed on the farm on Friday.
Residents of the community, comprising youths, women and the aged, chanted war songs, made bonfires and rained curses on the killers of the two farmers.
According to the Punch, a resident of the town said the bodies of the victims were recovered on Saturday.
“The two victims went to the farm on Friday and they were killed there by Fulani herdsmen who had been terrorising the Ikole, Oke Ako, Irele, Ipao axes. The dead bodies of the two farmers were recovered from the bush on Saturday,” the newspaper quoted the resident as saying.
Another resident told the newspaper that the killing was likely a revenge act for the altercation between the late farmers and some herdsmen earlier in the week.
The resident said the family of both men approached men of Amotekun Corps, who in turn initiated a search team alongside the local hunters and the police to the farm, where they discovered their corpses with gunshot injuries on Saturday morning.
“Obviously, it was a reprisal attack because on Thursday, these farmers were on the farm and had issues with the herdsmen. The herders went away and returned on Friday to commit this dastardly act against the farmers who only challenged them a day earlier. It is a very sad situation,” the resident said.
Brig. General Joe Komolafe (retd), Commander of Amotekun in Ekiti State, confirmed the incident. He said his operatives were already on the trail of the criminal elements.
“The two farmers were allegedly killed by the herdsmen after an altercation they earlier had on Thursday. We have handed over their corpses to the police while we continue with our investigations.”
Sunday Abutu, the Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti Police Command, the police had begun an investigation to unravel the remote and immediate cause of the crisis, adding that all culprits will be apprehended and face prosecution.
“There was a crisis between some farmers and the herders, in the process, there were casualties. The police were contacted and operatives have been deployed to that axis to maintain peace. The corpses of the deceased had been recovered from the Amotekun Corps and deposited in the morgue at Ikole General Hospital.
“The Police Commissioner, Mr Tunde Mobayo, has called for calm. Policemen are on the trail of the suspected killers,” Abutu stated.
