Septuagenarian and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Chief Olu Falae has spent the majority of President Buhari’s administration in serious peril, and if the events of last week are anything to go by, his woes aren’t going away anytime soon.
In September 2015, he was kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen on his farm at llado village in Akure North Local Government. Immediately the news of the abduction broke out, President Buhari directed the then Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase to make sure he was released, the IG special response team swung into action and he was rescued from his abductors a few days later.
The suspected Fulani herdsmen were later caught, arraigned and subsequently jailed but Falae’s woes was just beginning. In the year 2017 suspected Fulani herdsmen once again stormed his farm with their herds of cattle and destroyed crops worth millions of Naira. During the raid, a police officer who confronted the herdsmen who were reportedly armed was injured.
On Sunday, 21 January suspected Fulani herdsmen once again stormed his 10 hectares farm and set it ablaze. This arson on the ex-SGF’s farmland was made possible as majority of his staff do not work on Sundays. Falae practically lost everything on the farm as the fire caused massive damage before he was alerted. To worsen the situation, the Ondo state fire service was unable to save the day as they claimed they lacked the necessary equipment, a sad reflection of our nationhood.
The attacks on Falae are a grave concern not just because he was a former SGF but because the moment herdsmen start attacking farms consistently by destroying farm crops and burning farms of high magnitude like Falae’s then there is a threat to the nation’s food security.
They must be stopped.
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