The Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Ondo State Chapter has disowned the Fulani vigilante men who were allegedly parading themselves as members of the cattle breeders.
The Chairman of the MACBAN in the state, Alhaji Bello Garuba, who spoke on the telephone with our correspondent said his group had not formed any vigilante group, noting that all the activities of the group were known to the police command.
He said, “The report that herdsmen have formed a vigilante group in Ondo State was not true and cannot be substantiated.
“There was never a time our group came together to form any vigilance, there is nothing we do without carrying the police along.”
Similarly, the Ondo State Police Command has denied the allegation that it was shielding the Fulani vigilante men who mounted roadblocks in the state.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Femi Joseph, who described the allegation as untrue, said the command had begun an investigation into the matter.
Read Also:
He said, “It is not true, we are not shielding anybody, we are already on the matter and an investigation had commenced to fish out the people in question.
“Our men are already with various local vigilante groups in the state guiding their activities and anyone of them caught disobeying the rules and regulations, he would be dealt with.”
On the criminals at forest reserves in the state, Joseph said the special team from the office of the Inspector General of Police had been employing various means which include area surveillance to comb the forest reserves, expressing assurance that the efforts to arrest the criminals would be successful.
“As I would not want to disclose how we are doing our jobs, for security reason but I want to tell you that the IGP special team are making use of any instrument required to flush out the criminals and making progress.
“Very soon we shall invite you to see the results of our efforts. We are not doing it alone, we work with the local vigilante and some sister security agencies.” [PUNCH]
