Herdsmen destroyed my cassava farm, Cleric cries out in Ekiti

 

The founder of the House of Faith Christian Church Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State, Rev Tunde Afe has lamented the invasion and destruction of his cassava farm by suspected herdmen in Ekiti.

Afe spoke against the backdrop of an announcement by the Commissioner for Agriculture in Ekiti State, Olabode Olatoyi,  that no farm was destroyed by herdsmen in the state last week.

The commissioner made the announcement  following a report of an alleged destruction of a multi-million naira maize farm belonging to members of the Maize Grower Processing Marketer Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN) in Aduloju farmstead located along Ado-Ijan road in the state capital by herdsmen.

In a statement sent to newsmen on Thursday, Afe faulted the claims by the Commissioner, noting that his cassava farm in Itapaji, Ikole local government area of the state was destroyed by herders last week.

A one-time governorship aspirant in the state, Afe said political office holders should be cautious about playing politics with the precarious situation.

“It is wrong for some people to say ‘No single farm has been destroyed in Ekiti by Fulani herdsmen’ Please don’t play politics with this issue. These herdsmen destroy farms in Ekiti every day. For example, a section of my cassava farm at Itapaji Ekiti was eaten up by cows last week” he said.

According to him, farmers had stopped reporting to police because nothing came out of all the reports that had been made to them.

“These Fulani herdsmen are in Ekiti doing a lot of havoc. This is the third time they are destroying my farm”, he lamented.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Olatoyi said the government would make its position known to the public on the incident on Friday.

It's the stone age on the long bridge!

Brig.Gen. Iruh, killed

It’s the first time I’m hearing about this, but apparently it has been going on for a long time. If your car breaks down on the long bridge along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, near the popular Berger Bus Stop, you are in deep trouble. Some herdsmen permanently stationed under the bridge leap up within minutes and attack you with arrows and dagger.

Latest victim is Brig. Gen. Sylvester Iruh (rtd) whose Toyota Hilux had a flat tyre on the bridge and was shot with an arrow while fixing it. The herdsmen reportedly stabbed him many times and even abandoned a dagger in him before proceeding to rob him and the occupants of his vehicle.

On the night of the attack on the gentleman and his relatives, four other victims with stab wounds were rushed to the Accident and Emergency Hospital, near 7 Up/old Toll Gate Ikeja where the Brig.Gen breathed his last. They were all reportedly attacked at the same location. They were however luckier to have survived their ordeals.

Several commentators have since then been coming out with stories of how that place has been a notorious den of primitive robbers armed with knives, bows and arrows for a very long time.

Incidentally, just nearby is a cattle market-cum-settlement of cattle-rearers/sellers. If this has been going on for this long, what are the authorities doing about it? Lagos State could claim it is out of its jurisdiction. But what is the Ogun State government doing about it? Is this not one of the challenges that the two states can collaborate to tackle, especially seeing as it affects the residents of the two states.

Must we wait until people resort to self-help and precipitate another Southerner versus Northerner blood-letting before our governors will drag their lazy backsides off their expensive chairs to do something?