By Ola Ajayi

Ibadan – FOLLOWING the bloody clash between the police and some men believed to be members of Agbekoya, in Ibadan on Tuesday, which left one person dead and several others wounded, the national association of front-line farmers known as Agbekoya Farmers Society has disowned those who engaged the police in gun battle.

This was disclosed by the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Olatunji Bandele yesterday.

During the crisis that lasted for more than one hour, guns and other weapons were freely used.

Bandele said after a meeting of the National Executive Council of the society which was attended by the President General, Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola, Dr. Ogunlana Adegbenro, the General Secretary, Chief Salawu Ajibola, Treasurer and other national officers, they discovered that; “These miscreants and hoodlums are not registered members of our great society, and that among them were some bad eggs who have been dismissed from the group for thuggery misbehaviour and militancy.

“These people are miscreants and hoodlums who are not registered members of Agbekoya Farmers Society and who have teamed up with some bad eggs who were dismissed from our society for thuggery and militancy and are bent on destroying and denting the integrity of our group”.

As a result of their unacceptable behaviour, Chief Bandele said that these people had been reported to the Inspector General of Police, Director, Department of State Security Services, Headquarters, Abuja, and the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone II, Osogbo, and the Commissioner of Police of Oyo State in a petition dated November, 30,2015.

He added that since the association is a registered one with the Corporate Affairs Commission, any group of people who are impersonating and hiding under the name of Agbekoya to perpetuate crimes should be dealt with accordingly.

He appealed to the police and other security agencies to assist the organization in dealing with “these impersonators and criminals’’ according to the law and be brought to book in order to serve as a deterrent to others.