The Igangan community has demanded a sum of one hundred and ninety-three million naira as damages over killer herdsmen attack.
Recall that the Oyo-Ibarapa agrarian community was overwhelmed by armed Fulani militia in the wee hours of June 5, killing over 15 residents and destroyed over 70 properties, including houses, shops, filling station and the community palace.
Read Here: Igangan Killing Spree: Residents Mourn As Dead Bodies Litter The Streets (Video)
Igangan tendered a list of these damages summing up to N193 million. The list, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation, showed that 11 indigenes were killed on the fateful night. Four members of the about 100-strong attackers, also lost their lives during the three-hour attack.
Waiting for the expected compensation, many of the shops and houses, including the palace of the Asigangan, were already being repaired through self-help when The Nation visited the town last week.
The attack was believed to be a reprisal to the forceful ejection of Seriki Fulani in the community Soliu Abdulkadir earlier in the year.
Popular Yoruba nation agitator Chief Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) sent Abdulkadir packing by visiting Igangan on January 7.
The January 7 sack visit followed a previous visit to the Seriki during which Igboho ordered him to leave the community based on established claims that he was fronting for kidnappers who were alleged to be among herders of Fulani origin.
He gave him a seven-day ultimatum but the Fulani head refused to leave. He, however, fled on learning that Igboho was on his way to sack him on January 7.
Irate youths in the community used the opportunity of Igboho’s last visit to vandalise Abdulkadir’s palace to prevent him from returning.
The community believes that Abdulkadir was behind the attack. They insisted that he recruited Fulani in the neighbouring Benin Republic to avenge him. The community borders Benin Republic.
But the seriki denied involvement in the attack. He also said he was never involved in kidnapping, stressing that he was doing genuine business in the town.