There was pandemonium in Urhuoka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State yesterday, following an armed invasion of the community by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Fears heightened in the locality as the suspects invaded their farms with their cows and other dangerous weapons.
It was highly speculated that the suspected herdsmen decided to settle in the community after they were chased away from an unknown settlement in the state because of some unwholesome activities. Their invasion in the community also came barely two weeks after two brothers of the same parents were attacked and killed by some marauding herdsmen.
A community source said in Asaba yesterday that for fear of the unknown, indigenes and residents of the area had started relocating to safer areas.
He alleged that the herdsmen have encroached on farms owned by community leaders and members even as their cows feed on cassava, water melon and other crops.
The source said farm owners had abandoned their farms for fear of being killed. A community leader, Chief Joe Ibegbulem, however, denied that the community was planning a reprisal, but cried to the police for protection.
He said: “We only cried to the police and they sent policemen to patrol our community so that they can stop them from entering the community. So, the police are patrolling the road leading to the entrance of the community from the bush where they reside.
“The herdsmen thought that the police were coming to confront them, so they started shooting sporadically. They have sophisticated weapons, and if nothing is done to stop them, they will attack us one of these days.”
Ibegbulem confirmed that farmers no longer go to their farms for fear of being attacked, raped, maimed or killed by the herdsmen.
“They asked us to continue farming, but when the crops are matured enough, we should stop coming to the farms, and that if they find us in the farms they will kill us. We are no longer safe in our community again. How can strangers threaten us in our own community,? He queried.
“We now live in fear. We no longer go to farms for fear of being killed. The farm is our only source of livelihood. If nothing is done, we will move to Ekiti State to take refuge,” a distraught farmer lamented.
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