Governor, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has warned that the people of the state could be pushed to retaliate Friday’s attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen, on Oke Ako in Ikole local government area of the State if the herdsmen are not called to order.

He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to

as the patron of the Miyetti Allah

Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), “call his people to order because this is Ekiti; our people have the rights to defend themselves.

“I can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal attacks can get to because as a governor, it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people,” the governor said.

He described the attack by Fulani herdsmen on Oke Ako in Ikole local government, in which two people were killed and others injured as an act by “agents of the devil that must be fished out and punished accordingly.”

A statement issued by Lere Olayinka, the governor’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, quoted Governor Fayose to say that, the Fulani herdsmen were becoming major threat to the unity of Nigeria and its people.

“I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will as they have done in other States.

“I have directed the police and other security agencies in the State to fish out the killer herdsmen. I am in constant touch with the security agencies and I hope that the killer herdsmen will be fished out wherever they are and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain calm while the security agents do their job. However, the security agents must be mindful of the fact that the people’s patience has a limit and they must therefore act promptly and decisively,” Governor Fayose reminded President Buhari that he was so concerned about the killing of Fulani herdsmen in Saki, Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State such that he, as a private citizen led Arewa to Ibadan on October 13, 2000, to confront the then Governor of Oyo State, late Alhaji Lam Adesina.

He added that “Farmlands costing billions of naira have been destroyed in States in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country. One wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it.

“I am sounding a note of warning to the Fulani herdsmen and those who can talk to them should also do so now. If they continue with these wanton attacks, killing of the people and destruction of farmlands in Ekiti, I cannot guarantee that there won’t be reprisal attacks.

“I can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal attacks can get to because as a governor, it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people,” Fayose said.