Oyo State Security Network or Amotekun has reportedly killed seven herdsmen at Tapa in Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of the state.

Yoruba leaders claimed the murdered herdsmen were kidnappers while Fulani leaders claimed they were innocent herders.

A Yoruba traditional leader in the area insisted that the herdsmen were kidnappers. “Those telling you the story are not here. I am telling you the facts about it. The government needs to take action now. We have reported this case to the government several times. All filling stations are not working here again because of the excesses of the herdsmen,” the traditional ruler, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

He explained the killing thus: “The first man that was chased to that village went to buy food in Idere as he was about to enter the bush in Tapa. They shot him, and he ran to a village. As his men saw that Amotekun had surrounded the village, they shot at Amotekun and wounded them, and the Amotekun repelled the attack. That was what led to the crisis.”

However, a resident of the village, Umaru Abdulkadir, countered the explanation by the traditional.

“Early in the Saturday morning, some men of Amotekun stormed a village belonging to Bororo people. When the Bororo sighted danger, they started running to the Fulani village, about a kilometre from that village. On getting there, the Amotekun shot a Fulani man in the leg, and his people started rushing him to hospital,” Abdulkadir told SaharaReporters.

“When the Amotekun saw them going to the hospital, they attacked them on the bike and killed them on the bike. The Amotekun came back and attacked the Fulani village. They have killed seven people as we speak while many have entered villages with bullets.” he said.

Also speaking on the incident, the Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Salihu Abdulkadir, condemned the herdsmen’s killing, accusing the Amotekun operatives of engaging in extrajudicial killings.

He said the Amotekun members stormed the Fulani settlement where they opened fire on innocent herders, saying the man killed alongside his two sons was Deputy Sarki in the state.

Abdulkadir dismissed reports that the murdered herders were kidnappers as claimed by Amotekun, stating that they were unharmed herders who had lived in that community for more than 45 years.

He said the deceased made a distress call to him early in the morning to contact the police on his behalf in Oyo State, stating that it was not long before they got a call that he had been killed.

The Fulani leader called for a thorough investigation of the killing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The police public relations officer in the state, CSP Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident on Saturday in a text message sent to our correspondent in Ibadan but said three persons were killed others were injured.

“When the DPO of Ayete got wind of the incident, he moved in swiftly to ascertain the cause of the attack. In his report, three persons died and two injured. He has since commenced an investigation, and further development will unfold soonest,” the police spokesman said.