‘We are helpless,’ Oriire farmers protest Fulani herdsmen’s menace, storm Soun palace
Femi OGUNLANA
Dozens of farmers in Oriire local government area of Oyo state hit the street Thursday afternoon protesting what they described as excessive atrocities of Fulani herdsmen especially of Bororo stock in their communities.
Advertisement
The protesters mostly women bearing leaves made it to the palace of Soun of Ogbomosoland Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III to seek his intervention.
They chorused “we are tired of the atrocities of these Bororo herdsmen. They destroy our farms, kill our people, machete us, slash off our hands and act as if we are their slaves. They even rape women in the farm. Now, we can’t go to our farms again and we are hungry.”
Chief Aremu Ogundare their spokesperson who is the head of Kedo Arigbeyo said they came from three villages in Oriire local government - Kedo Arigbeyo, Kedo Salami and Mosunmaje – lamenting they had to come to the Soun to solicit his assistance because the herders persist in their destructive activities.
Advertisement
Chief Ogundare, who spoke with ogbomosoinsightonline.com in Yoruba, said, “Cows have become menace to us, the problem escalated about four or five years ago. We don’t enjoy farming any longer, all the cassava we cultivated they were destroyed by them, no one has any cassava in the farm again.
“Then, our cashew farms we thought of falling back on they would take their cow there in the night to eat them off. To feed our families now is hard, we can’t train our children in school, those in higher institutions have returned because we couldn’t raise fund to sponsor them any longer, feeding also is a problem.That’s the reason we came here with a save-our-soul message.”
Asked if they don’t dialogue with the invaders he disclosed they had several times but to no avail.
“We discussed it several times, we were at the police station, we reported to local government chairman, none yielded any solution. They persisted. They machete us, threaten oftentimes if anyone resist them they would kill them. Women can’t go to farm any longer even we men, we venture out in fear, out of compunction because we must feed our families.”
He added the “destroyers” forcefully take over lands, “nobody gave them land, they will come and erect settlements on any land of their choice and begin to perpetrate their nefarious activities. We are fed up, we are helpless, that’s the reason we have come to seek the assistance of our royal father.”
Meanwhile as at the time of filing this report, they have not been able to meet with the monarch.
A lasting solution has to be found to this incessant heart less attacks of the farmers by blood thirstyFulani herdsmen. But there already is a soluion: the government must take up the gauntlet. It must muster the political courage and willpower to implement the Anti open grazing law, in its spirit and letters. Let all cattle rearers, herdsmen, hirelings establish cattle ranches. Government should be ready to provide logistics and financial assistance to those who are ready to embrace ranching..