Police move OPC men who arrested Oyo fulani warlord, Wakili to Abuja after top presidential aide’s directive
The Oyo State Police Command has moved some members of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, loyal to Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, who arrested Fulani warlord, Isikilu Wakili, to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, reportedly on the orders of a top presidential aide.
SAHARAREPORTERS, reports that the OPC members were part of a joint security team that arrested Abdullah Wakilu, a feared Fulani herder, in Ayete, Oyo State.
Locals in the Ibarapa region have accused Wakilu of masterminding kidnappings and killings of innocent people on many occasions.
The OPC members, on the other hand, were said to have been apprehended by the Oyo State Police Command.
According to Vanguard, the OPC members who were involved in the arrest were first transferred from Oyo Police Command to Force CID in Alagbon, Lagos, and then to Abuja.
A source, who was privy to Wakili’s arrest, said a top presidential aide had warned some traditional rulers in Ayete and Ibarapaland not to touch Wakilu.
READ ALSO: Herdsmen kill OPC member in Ondo while searching for abducted local farmer
“I told the OPC guys not to arrest Wakilu because the Oba of Ayete told me that there is a presidential order on Wakili and that he should not be touched.
“When the team that went to arrest Wakili got there, I was called and I told them that members of our group should back down from the operation and that those going there to apprehend Wakilu would be arrested.
“Oba Ayete said a top presidential aide called him and warned him that nothing must happen to Wakilu. All the steps taken by the OPC guys and the team were already known by the Presidency. All the OPC guys arrested are on their way to Abuja. Wakili has foot soldiers doing the work for him.
“If you observed well, Wakilu pretended that he was not well. They burnt the man’s house but the police are now claiming that they burnt Wakili’s wife in it. That is the case the police will use against the OPC boys.
“It was a trap set for the OPC boys and they will be jailed for it. Wakilu was used as bait for a trap. I was reliably informed that they were moved from Eleyele to Force CID at Alagbon in Lagos.
“From there, they have been taken to Abuja. Sunday Igboho would have also been arrested but he withdrew at the last minute,” the source said.
The arrest of the OPC members came as Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Monday, vowed to prevent a miscarriage of justice on the recent arrests of some OPC members.
Similarly, the arrest also elicited angry reactions from the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba, Iba Gani Adams; the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere; Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the Agbekoya Farmers’ Association, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF; the Middle Belt Forum, MBF and the Mzough U Tiv Worldwide.
