Suspected Herdsmen Attack Edo Community, 4 Injured

Four persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in an attack on May 10 allegedly carried out by suspected Fulani herders in Imoga, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the headers were told to vacate the area with their families after one one Smaila Ibrahim and another member of his kidnapping gang, were apprehended in April by the people and handed over to the Police.

A victim, Mallam Jamila, a Hausa cow merchant based at Ibillo identified both men who were known members of the Fulani community in Imoga. After deliberation, the Fulani agreed to leave the community.

However, one Monday from Imoga, a man of over 60 years, who went to buy ox at Ibillo for the burial of his elder brother, was arrested and accused as one of those who came to Fulani camps at Ekor to destroy Fulani property.

He was whisked away in the morning of 8th April to Igarra Area Command where the Area Commander investigated the case without bias and later granted Mr Monday bail, promising to continue with investigations and urging the kings of Imoga and Ekor communities to do all they can to ensure lasting peace and order.

However, in a video made on Tuesday by the coordinator, Movement for the Advancement of Akoko Edo People (MAAP), Bode Ekundayo, one resident lost two toes while other had cut on their body after they were attacked with machete by the headers.

Ekundayo said the people of Imoga were tired of paying ransom to the kidnappers who they accommodated in their community.

He said in a statement, “Imoga, came to the conclusion in February 2026 that it was high time they responded accordingly to the menace of suspected Fulani and sundry kidnappers when eight Imoga people were held captives in our vast forest and demanded a ransom of N100 million.

“The community laboured and groaned for two weeks to rake over N20 million together to pay as a ransom for their children whose lives were threatened in the hands of the kidnappers. This is just one case among many.

“The bubble finally burst on 18th April, 2026 when two kidnappers kingpins of Fulani origin, one Smaila Ibrahim and another member of his gang, were caught, after kidnapping one Mallam Jamila, a Hausa cow merchant based at Ibillo. They were rightly handed over to the police at Ibillo who transferred them to State’s CID, Benin for further investigation and prosecution.

“The painful realisation in the revelation was that the two kidnappers were well known Fulani boys who moved around and related freely with Imoga people, not knowing that Smaila was their kingpin.

“Consequently, Imoga people resolved that it was high time all the camps harbouring bandits, kidnappers and terrorists in the forest were ejected and evacuated. So, all known Fulani landlords in the community were summoned and together with a mammoth crowd of youths, they moved around the forest ordering and insisting that the Fulani must relocate.

“Interestingly and unbelievably, unlike in many other places, the evacuation order was given and peacefully executed. No violence, no fight, no war. Just an order and the herders dismantled their huts and arranged their belongings themselves. The youths and people only stayed back and watched.

“That was how they evacuated more than twenty camps from 19th April to 6th May, 2026, when a sudden attack introduced an ironic twist,” he said.

Ekundayo has now called on government, police and other security agencies to come to the aid of the Imoga people.

Responding to questions about the incident at a press conference in Benin on Tuesday, the CP of the Edo State Police Command, Monday Agbonika said the neighbourhood watch would set up to take care of this kind of case.

He said members of the neighbourhood watch would be trained to compliment the activities of the police and other security outfits in the state. He noted that members of the outfit would be confined to their communities.

“We will set up the neighborhood watch to take care of these cases and they will work hand in hand with the police and other security outfits in the state,” he said.