The Nigerian police lied when it said only one cow strayed into the compound of the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, the professor has said.
Mr Soyinka, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, narrated how the cattle invaded his home, how they were removed and how the police took time to arrive the scene after they were invited.
The police in Ogun had claimed in a statement Tuesday that only one cow stayed into Mr Soyinka’s compound.
“The entire place was inspected by the DPO and it was established that it was just a case of stray cow as nothing was damaged or tampered with,” the police said.
Mr Soyinka has now said that the narrative of the police is false.
“I thoroughly resent the police version which suggests that the cows never invaded my home: home is not just a building; it includes its grounds. And it was not a stray cow, or two or three. It was a herd – we have photos, so why the lie? It is so unnecessary, unprofessional and suspiciously compromised,” Mr Soyinka wrote.
The most distressful aspect of my recent interaction with cows and herders is that it has created a most unwanted distraction from the ongoing life and death Nigerian narrative. One has to take time off to deal with distortions and Fake versions, while students are being reportedly waylaid and killed and/or kidnapped in Ondo and farmers are being slaughtered in my own state. In short, the killings continue even as panels are being launched to enquire into immediate past human violations. 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.
