Ondo Rejects Armed Fulani Vigilante …State assembly adjourns indefinitely over appearance of snake

The Ondo State Government on Thursday reiterated its position on the operations of Myetti Allah as vigilance group in the state, declaring that government would not allow armed Fulani vigilance group in any part of the state.

This is coming as the state House of Assembly was on Thursday forced to adjourn indefinitely over a sudden appearance of snake in the hallow chamber of the assembly and the collapse of the ceiling near the Speaker's seat.

The state government also reiterated its order directing the police to arrest anyone or group parading itself as Fulani vigilante.

The government position was contained in the statement issued yesterday by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Donald Ojogo.

He said the clarification came against the backdrop of orchestrated campaign on the matter, adding that "the intention of the sponsors and their echoers is undoubtedly to discredit the administration of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and ostensibly to incite the people against the state government.

"It is pertinent to recall that upon the circulation of the story in the social media about the purported formation of an armed vigilance group by the Miyetti Allah, the governor was swift in his reaction to the development.

"Not only did he disown the move, if at all, the governor's position was decisive even as it was pointedly consequential.

"At the risk of repeating himself, Akeredolu reaffirmed the position of the state government on July 23 when he was accosted by journalists who sought further information on the matter.

"The leadership of the Miyetti Allah in the state has equally disowned the report, and has even provided further insights into actionable steps to deal with whoever conducts himself in a manner that does not conform to the position of the state government."

Ojogo said the scheming media spins on the issue “can only be the handiwork of divisive elements and their collaborators whose defeated desire is to de-market the state government through unfounded claims and gross mischief.”

Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly was yesterday forced to adjourn indefinitely over a sudden appearance of snake in the chamber of the assembly as well as a collapse of the ceiling near the Speaker's seat.

It was gathered that a big snake on Wednesday appeared on the floor of the chamber when lawmakers were about to start plenary.

The appearance of the big snake prevented the lawmakers from sitting, forcing them to shift sitting till Thursday.

It was gathered that the decision to adjourn sitting indefinitely was further reinforced when the termite-invested ceiling caved in.

When journalists visited the assembly, many of the roof ceilings had fallen off while some seats have equally torn cover.

Also, the central public address system in the chamber was no longer functioning, making the assembly to resort to transfer of wireless microphone to one another.

Speaking on the two incidents, the Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Information, Hon Gbenga Omole, said the two incidents disrupted the works of the assembly.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), when we are about to enter into plenary, a big snake just ran out of the chamber which disrupted our sitting and we had to hurriedly leave the chamber.

“We were about to sit again today (Thursday) when a ceiling caved in directly where the Speaker was sitting; the assembly was consequently agitated, and when we looked around, we saw the damage the termite had done to most of the wood work in the chamber.

"At that point we had to adjourn the sitting. That chamber is no longer good for legislative business, and because of that, we decided to adjourn indefinitely. The assembly will be going on an indefinite recess.