By Ugochukwu
Ejinkeonye
The brutal abduction early last week of Chief Olu Falae, a
former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) and former finance
minister, by a band of suspected Fulani herdsmen has once again brought to the
fore the often tragic excesses of these cattle herders whose distorted and unwholesome
understanding of their place as co-inhabitants in their host communities
appears to have led them into the erroneous and dangerous belief that they are,
perhaps, incapable of being restrained by any law.
On Monday, September 21, 2015, the
day Falae turned 77, armed Fulani herdsmen reportedly stormed his farm at Ilado
in Akure North council of Ondo
State, attacked his
workers and violently took him away.
This is how his personal assistant (PA), Capt Moshood Raji
(retd), explained what happened while speaking with newsmen in Akure on Thursday, September 24, the day Falae
regained his freedom, as reported by Vanguard newspaper on Friday:
“About a month ago, there was a clash between the herdsmen and Chief
when some cows destroyed maize on the farm. I was the one that led the
policemen to arrest them. We arrested some and detained them for about four
days. Chief Falae said he has no problem with them that they have to sign an
undertaking that they will not go there again. They signed an agreement that
they will not go there again. The Fulani Secretary signed for them. The
secretary then said I should caution Oga
(Falae) that he should go and fence his farm. He said if he dared harm any cow
or kill any of their cows, there would be trouble. He said that before the
officer in charge of SARS. They have [now] carried out the threat. What they
destroyed was about N500,000.00 but N120,000 was paid and the chief distributed
the money to all his workers when it was brought to him.”
After his abductors
set him free, Falae reportedly told Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State
who visited him that during his four days in captivity, he was made to sleep on
bare floor and trek several kilometers from his farm in Ilado, where he was
kidnapped, to about 10
kilometers near Owo, where he was eventually set free.
And when Gen Alani Akinrinade visited him on Monday September 28, he explained
further:
