Suspected herdsmen attacked the Ajegunle-Powerline community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State and, in the process, killed five labourers working on the farm in the area.
A farmer in the community, Akin Olowolafe, who confirmed the incident, said, “The incident happened around 3 pm on Tuesday, and these Fulani herdsmen killed five of our labourers.
This is how they (herdsmen) usually come to disturb and destroy our crops, and we have reported them to the state government and even to the security agencies, but no positive actions were taken from these security agencies to stop the Fulani herdsmen activities on our farmlands.
“These Fulani herdsmen just entered the farmlands on Tuesday as we were working, and they started shooting sporadically in the air and killed five people during the attacks.”
According to Olowolafe, the attacks and armed robbery, which now occur daily around the area, have made life unbearable for them because of the unchecked, intensified attacks and lack of intervention from appropriate authorities in the state.
He said that many farmers in the community have fled their farms for fear of being killed saying the incessant clashes and destruction of farm crops are so worrisome and it has led to boycotting of farms by farmers in the area.
Olowolafe posited that the communities that rely on crops they produce to survive are being threatened by the daily destruction of such crops by cattle that usually invade their farmlands.
According to him, the confrontational attitude of the herdsmen also constituted a threat to their lives as, most often, they (herdsmen) usually killed or raped any female they met at the farms.
Olowolafe, however, called on the State Government under the leadership of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the security agencies to intervene and save them from constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
A labourer, identified as Fidelis Daniel, who also spoke on the incident said; “They came around 3 pm on Tuesday to destroy our farms and we have warned them not to come to our farmlands again but they did not hear, and when they came they just started shooting and killed five of our people that we just brought to the mortuary now.”
His words “I was inside the farm too when the incident happened, I just heard the sound of guns, and I immediately ran to the house. It was even God who saved me, too. They would have killed me.
“They suddenly came with weapons to destroy our crops and killed five people. Three people from Plateau State and two from Kaduna State.”
Daniel, also called on the Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, the Commander of the State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), Adetunji Adeleye, and other relevant security agencies to take proactive security measures that would put an end to this continuous daily embarrassment and attacks, disclosed that the situation is now worrisome as it is negatively affecting the morale of the farmers.
Our correspondent, who was at the State University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Akure Complex could see how the men of the Hunters and Vigilantes Association in Akure North Local Government Area of the state came to deposit the dead bodies of the victims at the mortuary.
The Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, who confirmed the incident, however, said, “There was an attack on the community, and police are still investigating. But I cannot confirm the number of people that were killed.”
