By Banji Ayoola
Again, suspected Fulani herdsmen yesterday night invaded the farm of Afenifere chieftain, a former Chairman of Social Democratic Party, SDP, a former Presidential candidate and ex Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae.
This was conveyed in a terse message today by his Personal Assistant, Capt Moshood Adekunle Raji, who wrote to The Radiance : “These Fulani herdsmen came to attack Chief Olu Falae’s farm again last night.”
The message was accompanied with a distress call on the State Commandant of Amotekun Corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, by Falae himself on his personal letterhead titled: “Attack on my farm by Fulani herdsmen,” and dated November 23.
He said in the distress call: “In the last few weeks, Fulani herdsmen came into my maize farm twice to eat up and trample on large sections of the farm. I reported the incidents to Alhaji Bello, the Chairman of Miyetti Allah for Ondo State; nothing has happened.
“In the last few days, they have gone to attack my citrus farm by stealing harvested oranges and destroying what they could not carry away. The police on security duty on the farm were sent to drive them away. But they have been coming back every night to attack my workers in our camp, breaking their door and carting away all their belongings!
“Please, let Amotekun save us and our livelihood. They kidnapped me on 21st September, 2015; they should not be allowed to do it again.
“Thank you for rendering our race this patriotic duty.”
The latest attack followed series of attacks on the elder statesman by the bandits that culminated into his abduction by same armed Fulani herdsmen from his Ilado Farm in Akure, on his 77th birthday, September 21, 2017.
The kidnappers had demanded a N100 million ransom.
After his release, the Afenifere chieftain gave shocking details of his ordeal in the kidnappers’ den narrating how he was tortured, deprived of food and forced at gun point to trek several kilometres to freedom.
The hoodlums had threatened to kill him every 30 minutes until they received information that money had been given to them as demanded.
Falae had narrated among others, following his release then: “There were six of them with three or four guns and every half an hour or so they will say, ‘Baba we are going to kill you, if you don’t give us money we are going to kill you.
“On Wednesday, one of them came and said ‘look we are going to leave here on Thursday morning. Since we cannot leave you here alone, if we don’t get what we want we are going to kill you.”
“And they said they gave me until 3pm and if at 3pm they don’t get the money they would execute me. I thank God that at 21 minutes to 3pm, one of them came and said, ‘the money don complete’.”
According to him: “When the hoodlums came, they slashed me with their cutlasses, they said I was not cooperating. And they dragged me barefooted into the bush.
“After dragging me around for about two hours, they stopped somewhere for us to rest and there they asked me to phone my wife and tell her that I have been kidnapped and taken out of Ondo State by car which was a lie.
“It was about 2.30pm on Monday, We started walking with very few stops until 2am the following morning. I suspect that I must have covered a minimum of 15km. That morning I did not take anything. So all day I had no food, no water and I walked close to 15km. How I survived I cannot really remember. I had no food in my stomach, I had no shoes, my clothes were torn to shreds.”
