Published February 12, 2021
Gbenga Adeniji
NOBEL Laureate, Prof . Wole Soyinka , has faulted police claim that his property wasn’t invaded by cows and herdsmen who, on Tuesday , entered the Kemta Housing Estate , Abeokuta , Ogun State, where his house is located .
There were reports on Wednesday that some herders and their cows invaded the elder statesman’s property and attacked him .
But Soyinka in a statement on Thursday from his Autonomous Residence of Ijegba , Idi- Aba, Abeokuta , Ogun State, titled : ‘ Mad cows and even madder narratives ’ , said he was never attacked but described the police version of the incident as untrue.
The state police command in a statement by its spokesperson , Abimbola Oyeyemi, had said there was no invasion of Soyinka ’s residence or attack on him by the herders or their cows .
It noted that only a herdsman entered the area in search of a stray cow .
Soyinka said, “ For those who truly seek details of the Ijegba incident , I hereby affirm that I was never physically attacked , neither did I attack any cows . The cows and herders did however attack my property – and not for the first time .
The police need to be very , very careful and learn to be straightforward with public information .
“ Failure to adhere to that obvious , basic form of conduct means that the public will lose total confidence in security agencies and constantly bypass them in times of civic unrest , no matter how trivial or deadly. ”
The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland , Gani Adams , warned criminal herdsmen in the South -West to stay away from the region or face the wrath of the Oodua People ’ s Congress.
He was reacting to the encroachment on the Abeokuta residence of the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka , by herdsmen and their cattle.
In the statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media , Kehinde Aderemi , Adams said the manner of the encroachment was a threat to Soyinka ’s privacy