Suspected Fulani Herdsman Stabs Driver To Death

The police in Ondo State have launched a manhunt for a Fulani man who is suspected to be a herdsman for allegedly stabbing a driver, Victor Ajisafe, to death in Akure, Ondo State capital.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, disclosed this to journalists in Akure.

THISDAY learnt that the incident happened last Sunday at a motor park located at Roadblock area of Akure.

Joseph said the police have arrested one Usman Olaniyi who was identified to be a friend to the killer of the driver.

He said Olaniyi, who was said to have incited the Fulani man before he stabbed the drive to death, would be charged to court.

The wife of the deceased, Mrs Oluwatoyin Ajisafe, said nobody could ascertain why her husband was gruesomely murdered by the unknown Fulani man.

According to the woman, Ajisafe, who was in his early 30s and hailed from Ondo West Local Government Area of the state, was a prominent member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) working in Ibadan Park, at Road Block Area of Akure.

Mrs Ajisafe said she did not know what led to the misunderstanding between her husband and his killer but she was called by her brother-in-law, Dapo, who told her that the deceased had been rushed to the state Specialist Hospital, Akure.

“It was my husband’s brother that called that one Fulani stabbed my husband in the neck and was rushed to the hospital. When I got there, my in-laws and friends did not allow me to see him despite all my efforts.

“They later took me back home in their car under the guise that we should be looking for money to take proper care of him. It was when they took me to my mother’s shop at Road Block that they then broke the news that he is dead,” she said.

Narrating what led to the incident, an anonymous source said it was Olaniyi (the killer’s friend) that told the killer in his native language that Ajisafe was abusing him and this annoyed the Fulani man who he drew his sword from the sheath.

“He started pursuing him around the Ibadan motor park and when he caught up with him, without hesitating, he stabbed him viciously on the neck.”

The source, who added that the killer is a herdsman, said Olaniyi was among those who rescued late Ajisafe and rushed him to the hospital, where he finally gave up the ghost.
The deceased family, especially his wife, Oluwatoyin, and the mother urged the state government and security agencies to ensure that the killer of their husband and child is apprehended and prosecuted accordingly.

“We appeal to the government and the police to quickly arrest the Fulani man who killed our son and husband in his prime. He must face the dire consequences of his actions so that we can also get justice too,” they said.