Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said yesterday that information at his disposal seemed to disprove claims that Dr. Fatai Aborode was killed by herders in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government Area.
The murder of Aborode is one of the alleged atrocities said to have been committed by herders in Ibarapaland and it led, in part, to the recent visit of Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho, to the Sarkin Fulani of Igangan, Alhaji Salihu Abdulkadir, and the burning of his property.
Speaking in a radio interview in Ibadan, Makinde said Aborode’s father told him that his son’s death had political undertone. He expressed surprise that the police did not arrest and interrogate some persons who were present when hoodlums killed Aborode on the fateful day.
Aborode, who was the House of Representatives candidate of the Social Democratic Party in 2015, was killed by suspected gunmen on December 11, 2020 while returning home from his farm.
The killing, among other issues, caused the quit notice issued to the Seriki Fulani in Igangan, Salihu Abdukadir, whose properties were razed by some Ibarapa youths.
It was also widely claimed that Aborode, who had a very large farm where he employed many youths, was killed by suspected Fulani criminals. But Makinde said yesterday: “Oyo State is not a jungle. We must find a way to get to the root of the matter (Aborode’s killing).
“I went to Ibarapa and I slept over to know what the situation was. I went to Dr Aborode’s biological father and some of the things we found out were that the death was also caused by failure of intelligence. “Everybody said Fulani killed Dr Aborode. But when I went to his father, he said what happened had a political undertone.
“He also told me that Dr Aborode did not drive himself to the farm (on the day he was killed); he was taken on a bike by somebody. “When they were coming back from the farm, those who killed him picked him from the motorcycle and the rider left the motorcycle and came home to seek for help. But there was no single scratch on his body. He was not even pinched.
“Some persons were also coming from the farm and also stopped, and these ones heard the conversations between Dr Aborode and those who killed him.
“I asked where are those people, and they said they were in Igangan with the person who carried him on the motorcycle. “Okay, those who killed him, what language were they speaking? They said they heard that they spoke in Yoruba.
“When I returned to Ibadan, I called the security agencies and asked them if they heard what I just heard. They said they had interviewed the people. And I asked what did you now do to them? They could not say anything. I told the Commissioner of Police that those people must be arrested and interrogated.
“Just yesterday (Friday), they told me that they had arrested the persons and what I heard is that one of the persons said that he would mention every one of them who was there.”
