By TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI

Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland on Monday refuted the claim that members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) arrested an elderly man called Iskilu Wakili in a Fulani settlement at Kajola, in Ibarapa area of Oyo State.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Independent, Aare Adams described Wakili as a criminal who masterminded and coordinated several kidnap operations in the area before his arrest.

He said Wakili only pretended as if he was blind after his arrest to arouse sympathy despite all the atrocious acts he and his gangs have committed for years.

According to him, after his arrest, Wakili who was in Ogun state two weeks ago to purchase animal feeds for his cows walked by himself without support from anyone from his house to the vehicle where he was kept from being lynched by the villagers.

According to him “Wakili is not blind. We can see his pictures in the national daily today. He is just pretending. He came to Kara market in Ogun state with a bag full of money to buy cow feeds two weeks ago. Unknown to him, we have been monitoring his movement for long”.

“Anyone saying Wakili is blind is misinformed. He is a criminal. All what you saw him doing when he was arrested was just like acting drama. When they arrested him, he trekked by himself from his house to the vehicle without any form of assistance”.

“Those boys who arrested did not put him on motorcycle so that the villagers who were angry with him may not lynch him, so they kept him inside the vehicle so as to give him protection.

The police took sides with him in the drama by taking him to the hospital for medical attention. Nothing happened to him because our boys did not manhandle him”.

“Even if anything happens to him in the course of the operation, it is justified because he is a criminal who has done more evil to people to innocent people in that area.

The king as leaders of Ibarapa perceived Wakili as a spirit that cannot be arrested. They referred to him as ‘Anjonu (someone with mystical power). They perceived him as someone who can turn to a cat, snake or any other things”.

“But when it comes to OPC, unless we don’t want to act. We did our research before our operation. We did all the needful before we got to that venue. If it will take us three months to do our research on someone to get him, we will do it. We don’t rush to do our operation” he said. (Daily Independent)

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