The Ekiti State Police Command has said the it is ready to enforce the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari against those carrying AK 47 rifles illegally.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Babatunde Mobayo, said the Police in Ekiti is resolute to restore peace between warring farmers and herdsmen, using the instrumentality of the law to arbitrate when necessary in order to halt ethnic tension in the state.
Recall that President Buhari recently ordered security operatives to shoot anyone illegally carrying AK 47 rifle.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting in Ado Ekiti held at the instance of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to find a lasting solution to farmers-herders clashes, Mobayo said no efforts would be spared to halt ethnic clash in the state.
The commissioner said: “If you carry unlicensed arms in Ekiti State, we are going to deal with you ruthlessly.
“To those carrying AK 47 without a licence, it is like carrying death certificate and hang it on your head. So carrying of AK 47 by non-state actors is not permitted in Ekiti.
“We know that Fulani herdsmen most of the time go out of their ways to destroy people’s farms, but we have always been rising up to handle such cases without taking sides. We were being careful because the locals as well used to perpetrate some of these evils under the cover of herdsmen.
“Don’t also forget that underage cattle rearing and night grazing have been banned. If there is any case against Fulani that I am not handling well, you can write a petition against me to the police Zonal office in Akure. I won’t protect any criminal”.
