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SPECIAL REPORT: Lanlate: How armed ‘herdsmen’ kill, kidnap farmers in Oyo community

August 26, 2020Adejumo kabir

Cows caught destroying farm [PHOTO CREDIT: PREMIUM TIMES - Adejumo Kabir]

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For Modupe Oyetoso, July 10 will forever remain a sad day for her because that was the day she lost her fiancée (names withheld) to armed kidnappers alleged to be Fulani herdsmen.

Ms Oyetoso and her fiance were returning from their farm at Igbo-dudu in Lanlate around 5 p.m. on the fateful day when the four armed men accosted them, killing her fiancé in the process while she was whisked away.

She spent two days in her abductors’ den. She only secured her release after an undisclosed sum of money was paid by her family to the kidnappers as ransom.

The harrowing experience explains why Ms Oyetoso told PREMIUM TIMES that “I’m not sure I want to grant any interview again because each time I do, I remember the sad incident, it was a horrible experience and I remain devastated.”

Lanlate is one of the seven towns in Ibarapa area of Oyo State. Others are Igangan, Eruwa, Aiyete, Tapa, Idere, and Igbo-Ora. The major activity in these communities is agriculture with many outsiders having acres of land for farming.

Despite being a graduate of Computer Science from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Ms Oyetoso took to farming, saying that is where her passion lies.

She started with little capital about six years ago and grew to own Smart Farm Nigeria attending to all forms of farming business.

She later introduced her late fiancé to farming but two months after showing interest, he was attacked and killed by the armed men.

On sighting the kidnappers, she said her lover manoeuvred their car in order to escape from the kidnappers but could not escape. Soon, she heard a gunshot that hit her fiancé at the back of his head.

While trying to save him, the car, which was still in motion, hit a tree. By the time the vehicle screeched to a halt, the kidnappers approached her and whisked her away. Ms Oyetoso said the ”bad guys” tied her hands with a rope and forced her into the forest.

She said while one of them was using the rope to pull her, another was beating her when she slowed down, saying that when she even slumped in the rain, they continued beating and pulling her.

Upon getting into the forest where they considered safe for them, the kidnappers asked Ms Oyetoso to call her parents to brief them of her travails.

Held in forest for 2 days

Ms Oyetoso said she was exposed to rain and cold while in the forest for two days. She said that the kidnappers criticised her late fiancé for trying to escape when he saw them because what they wanted was just money.

While she was disturbed and ignorant about the situation of her lover, one of the assailants told her to accept all that happened as fate.

On her first night in the forest, she said her abductors called her family to demand N50 million for her release. While they spoke with her in Yoruba, they were speaking Fulani to themselves, she recounted.


When she asked if her lover was going to survive the gunshot, one of the assailants reportedly responded, saying “he would be rescued by passersby.”

By the next morning, they called her parents again.

Not pleased with the “no money” excuse from her father, the assailants shot at her direction threatening to kill and sell her body parts. Amidst this, her father kept pleading that it was a Saturday and that he had no money at home. She again spent the night with them until her parents were able to raise an undisclosed amount of million as ransom.

On the day of her release, her father called at 9 p.m. that he had gotten to Eruwa, a nearby town where he was directed to bring the ransom.

After a careful check and assurance that the old man was not with the police, the assailants “told him to drop the money somewhere and after picking the cash, they called the guy asked to look after me to bring me. It took me about 15 minutes to get to my dad from the forest,” she said.

It was after she got home that she confirmed that her fiancé could not survive the gunshot. “They killed his dream,” she said, weeping.

Ms Oyetoso became downcast.

“My mum was distraught,” she said “and even though I didn’t see his tears, I know my dad was crying inside. It is one of the worst experiences a parent could face”.

More tales of sorrow

Ms Oyetoso is not the only farmer with a tale of sorrow in Lanlate. A PREMIUM TIMES visit to the community showed that there are many others who are yet to recover from their kidnap experiences. In fact, investigations revealed that some farmers have already abandoned their farms following attacks from suspected herdsmen.

Few days after Ms Oyetoso’s horrible experience, a cocoa distributor in the community was also abducted.

Fatai Ogunniyi has been a cocoa dealer in the town since the 80s. He, however, witnessed an unforgettable experience of his life on July 19 when he was kidnapped by persons he said were Fulani herdsmen.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that he was whisked away while returning from Iseyin with his wife. The kidnappers robbed his wife of over N300,000 when they accosted them but left for the forest with only him.

“They took me into the forest, beat me and forced me to drink mud water in the rain. They were six in numbers and were speaking Fulani. It was my wife that ran to the main town to inform the public about my predicament”.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that he trekked alongside the assailants from the point of his abduction till the following morning. “After I summoned courage to ask them about my offence, they told me they were only looking for survival too.”

Mr Ogunniyi said the assailants later in the night asked him to call his family demanding the sum of N10 million as ransom. “When I told them I don’t have enough money, one of them slapped me and wondered if a poor man could be driving the type of my car.”

He said when he could no longer endure the beating, he agreed to call home but by then, they already reduced their demand to N9 million.

He told our correspondent that one of his abductors got annoyed and pointed a gun at him following the refusal of his family to yield to their demand. After much pleading and beating, the kidnappers agreed that they would release Mr Ogunniyi if his family would produce at least N1 million a day after he was kidnapped. He explained that the more a victim stays with kidnappers, the higher the ransom.

“When my friend was coming the next day to pay the N1 million ransom, four of the six assailants went to block him while the other two stayed with me. They asked him to help them buy food (rice) on his way which he obliged. When he got to the forest where they asked him to bring the money, he was asked to taste from the food to be sure he had not poisoned the meal”. He told our correspondent that he trekked for over 40 minutes after he was freed before he saw a small village where he was directed back home to meet his traumatised family.

Aside from the aforementioned cases, many more cases have been recorded in Lanlate, the farmers told PREMIUM TIMES. When our correspondent visited the palace of the town’s monarch, he met a top chief, Adegbayi Adesokan – the Asipa of Lanlate , who lamented the security challenges in the community. He said even the monarch and his chiefs were not safe.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that he was whisked away while returning from Iseyin with his wife. The kidnappers robbed his wife of over N300,000 when they accosted them but left for the forest with only him.

“They took me into the forest, beat me and forced me to drink mud water in the rain. They were six in numbers and were speaking Fulani. It was my wife that ran to the main town to inform the public about my predicament”.

Not pleased with the “no money” excuse from her father, the assailants shot at her direction threatening to kill and sell her body parts. Amidst this, her father kept pleading that it was a Saturday and that he had no money at home. She again spent the night with them until her parents were able to raise an undisclosed amount of million as ransom.

On the day of her release, her father called at 9 p.m. that he had gotten to Eruwa, a nearby town where he was directed to bring the ransom.

After a careful check and assurance that the old man was not with the police, the assailants “told him to drop the money somewhere and after picking the cash, they called the guy asked to look after me to bring me. It took me about 15 minutes to get to my dad from the forest,” she said.

It was after she got home that she confirmed that her fiancé could not survive the gunshot. “They killed his dream,” she said, weeping.

Ms Oyetoso became downcast.

“My mum was distraught,” she said “and even though I didn’t see his tears, I know my dad was crying inside. It is one of the worst experiences a parent could face”.

More tales of sorrow

Ms Oyetoso is not the only farmer with a tale of sorrow in Lanlate. A PREMIUM TIMES visit to the community showed that there are many others who are yet to recover from their kidnap experiences. In fact, investigations revealed that some farmers have already abandoned their farms following attacks from suspected herdsmen.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/investigationspecial-reports/410810-special-report-lanlate-how-armed-herdsmen-kill-kidnap-farmers-in-oyo-community.html&ved=0ahUKEwjO7o_AubnrAhXGuZ4KHcilA5gQxfQBCCowAA&usg=AOvVaw3nm5B5IXYQOVlMKHAz8CIj

Ipob news

Let's ignore and go to bed.

No doubt, SW is under invasion by those barbarian saboteurs. it is time for SW Leaders to think more than just Amotekun. No doubt, Amotekun is a broker but we need more than just that.

Herdsmen are not terrorist, they're mere criminals. Lie mahammad !

When will yorubas wake up and join hands with the rest and fight this evil fula.nis.if possible chase them back to futa-jalon were they truly belong

Lord Lugard has finished us. News like this keeps reminding us of the rubbish Lord Lugard did. It's like Rochas forgot to build a statue for him when he was governor or his actions in 1914 also has affected Rochas.

Ibarapa people are very hard people and they have always had history with the Fulanis.


They would retaliate

This is never our problem, our only problem is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, he want to convert Tinubu to Christianity or Jewish religion, whether Nigeria is getting better or not is not our problem in Yoruba land, the only problem we the Yorubas have is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Biafra

and someone is paying people to suppress this type of news ..because he hopes same people killing his people plan to hand over ultimate power to him

lmao honestly it's funny