Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that five northern governors will hold a security meeting with him in Abeokuta today (Tuesday).
The governor said this on Monday while leading security chiefs and some members of the State Executive Council to some areas in the state that had witnessed killings by herdsmen.
Abiodun, who addressed some aggrieved villagers at Oja-Odan, had a hectic time calming them down over the development.
He later visited Igbooro, where three persons were killed and nine injured in a Sunday night attack.
Some of the areas attacked by the Fulani herdsmen are Eggua, Ketu, Igbooro, Iselu, Agbon-Ojodu, Asa, Ibeku, Imeko and Oja-Odan.
The governor, while speaking on the meeting with the five northern governors, did not mention the names of his colleagues he would be meeting with, but said they were of Fulani extraction.
Abiodun said all the concerned groups would be represented with a view to charting a way forward on the security situation in the state.
He said, “I have called a stakeholders’ meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) with my colleague governors, who are Fulani and have people here.
“Five governors are coming to Abeokuta from the northern states. We will call some of you to the meeting to discuss the matter.”
The government said the agenda for the meeting with the northern governors was to chart a way forward on the ethnic problems in the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, said on Monday that “The stakeholders’ meeting is a confidence building engagement and conflict management mechanism adopted by the state government to ensure that people of diverse ethnic backgrounds live together in peace and harmony.
“All stakeholders are expected to lay their grievances, if any, and for solutions to the orgy of bloodletting among people, who had a template for conflict management and peaceful coexistence for ages.”
On the security measures put in place, the governor said he would hand over some security vehicles and motorcycles to the special task force he set up for Yewaland on Tuesday.
He said, “The delegation I sent told me what they saw. They said a lot of things happened and as they were giving the report of what they saw, we heard that another attack happened.
“I called a security meeting this morning. And before yesterday, I had set up a task force and bought new vehicles and motorcycles for Yewaland security.
“The task force consists of the police, soldiers, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and hunters to help us in terms of security in your area.
“Tomorrow by God’s grace, all the new vehicles and motorcycles will be released. The task force will be stationed here; they will not only patrol your areas and go back to Abeokuta.”
He also promised to foot the hospital bills of those who were injured by the herdsmen.
He also pledged to help those who lost their property during the attacks to cushion the effects of their losses.
Meanwhile, villagers in some of the affected areas in Yewaland have deserted their homes.
Earlier, the Eselu of Iseluland, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, said the people of Ketuland were demanding that the governor give an order for the eviction of Fulani herdsmen in the area.
The Olu of Ilaro and Paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, said his subjects were no longer sleeping with their eye closed due to the herdsmen attacks.