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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
“He stood in front of me with an AK47, ordered me to stop, pointed the gun and shot. In reflex, I used my hand to block the bullet and it shattered my hand. Immediately I ran for my life, he ran after me but I was faster because I knew he was going to kill me. I ran until I saw my kinsmen coming into the forest to rescue those of us being attacked by killer herders at Lake Sam,” said middle-aged Jimiro Nyekafamo as he struggled to speak on his bed at Bay Hospital, Amarata, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he has been receiving treatment since March 20 after herders launched an attack on the people of Okordia clan at Lake Sam.
Nyekafamo, who was in severe pain, said from the X-ray conducted by the doctors, his metacarpals have been destroyed. This has already triggered panic for his family on how he is going to continue with his work as a building engineer after leaving hospital.
Without mincing words, he called for justice and the immediate eviction of herders from the forests around Okordia clan and all over the state.
He said: “I am a building engineer who worked with my two hands. So, how am I going to survive now? The herders should be ejected from our forest. Everybody in the community is afraid. Government must take action.”
His uncle, Mr. Richard Nyekafomo, described the killer herders that attacked his nephew as “heartless,” warning that the state government must enforce its anti-open grazing law before things get out of hand.
“Ours is a sad story because this is something we used to hear from other places, and now it is happening to us. Seeing the degree of the injury on my nephew’s hand, I want to say the herders are heartless.
“The state government prohibited open grazing, so what happened to the law? It seems it is not in place. Before my nephew, there have been other cases and I expect the government to step in. These herders are not spirits. They live in our forests. With the way it is going, they would start raping our women soon. This is the best time to come together and say enough is enough, what they are doing in the North should not be allowed here. Our people are farmers and fishermen. So, if the government allows the herders to misbehave, we would not have a place to call our own,” he said.
The Nyekafamo family is lucky that one of their own was not killed. The families of Chief Bob Wilson, Mr. Alexander Diri and Victor Anozie were not as lucky; they lost lives to the brutality of herders. The late Alexander Diri was beheaded to underline the cruelty of his killers.
Before the herders’ rampage in the Zarama/Okordia/Biseni clan, similar incidents had been reported in Ogbia and Sagbama local government areas and other parts of Yenagoa.
In 2021, a 39-year-old women, Waadu Alfred, was found dead in the forest of Opume community. She was tied to a stake, raped and killed by suspected herders.
The activities of herders in the state have become a menace to residents of the state, especially farmers and fishermen. It was believed that the anti-open grazing law signed by Governor Douye Diri would help curb the activities of herders who want to cross the borderline of decency. That hope has been dashed. Worse still, residents of communities said the Bayelsa Livestock Management Committee set up to enforce the law, after a few arrests of cattle found wandering in Yenagoa, the state capital, have left communities in the state to their fate.
Myown Wilson, brother to the late Wilson, in an interview, declared that the herders have violated the anti-grazing law and should be brought to book.
“My brother was shot and killed by herders. He was killed at Lake Sam. We are worried that the anti-grazing law is not effective, but I am optimistic that government will do the right thing. The herders have violated the law; they should be brought to book. I want government to do the needful and arrest those involved. The anti-grazing law should be enforced.
“Ted Elemero, who is representing us in the House of Assembly, has condemned the act and vowed that the anti-grazing law would be effective,” he said.
Also, the immediate younger sister to the deceased, Okpoebi Wilson, who described the late Chief Wilson as “father”, stated that the attacks by herders have enthroned a climate of fear in the area.
“We are pained over his death. Personally, it is a big blow to me. He is the father of the family, being the eldest, who has been there for us since we lost our parents. The herders that killed my brother should not go scot-free. The government should drive them out of the state. They should be ejected. As a farmer, I can no longer go to the farm. We don’t want to die of hunger. Security men should be deployed,” she stated.
One-time youth president of the community, Raymond Akadumeme, in an interview, explained that the source of the crisis was the Lake Sam, where the people have farmlands and where herders bring cattle for grazing.
“There is a lake, where people fish, called Lake Sam, which is one of the biggest lakes in Bayelsa State. Herders go to the area with their cattle and, in the process, destroy farmlands around the area. When people in the area complained about the destruction of farmlands, the herders came out with guns.”
Akadumeme, who claimed to have also been shot a few years ago by the herders, said the threat posed to the people could no longer be ignored, and government should intervene because the people can no longer “tolerate the excesses of the herders.”
“The anti-grazing law is not working. The people of Okordia clan are not happy. They are living in fear that the (herders) are still coming back. People are now afraid to go to the bush. The Bayelsa State government has failed the people and we have been pushed to the wall. We are peace-loving people but, if the government fails to do something, we may go on a rampage, since we have been pushed to the wall. Enough is enough; let us call a spade a spade. They have murdered three persons in the space of one week.
“Government should enforce the anti-grazing law and eject herders from our forest. There are so many herders in Bayelsa forests now. Women are being sexually harassed. The herders at gunpoint molest our women, threaten to kill them and fondle their breasts. Female farmers are now afraid that they could be raped.”
Mr. Luguard Omekwe, who disclosed that his brother-in-law was killed on the day Chief Wilson was also killed, said the herders, after the dastardly act, carted away money and other valuables, while also destroying several crops and threatening to come for more attacks.
Another victim of herders’ cruelty, Alika Kemebi Betterland, a former youth leader of Ayambele community in Okordia clan, said the people of Okordia, who are predominantly farmers and fishermen, have been rendered helpless.
“As of today, the people are afraid to go into the forest to look for their daily bread because of the fear of herders. They are afraid to go to Lake Sam to fish because of marauding herdsmen. We are so worried and, looking at the situation of things, we are helpless. The criminal activities of some of the killer herdsmen did not start today; it started as far back as 2005. They have killed people in the past and nothing was done about it.
“The recent incident occurred within the space of a week. They slit the throat of Chief Alexander Diri, and a few days later they came to Lake Sam to kill Chief Wilson and Victor Anozie. It is so worrisome that the state government cannot even protect us. Bayelsa has an anti-grazing law in operation but the law is not effective. Herders come to our farmlands, destroy them, kill our people and yet the government does nothing. Government should come to our aid. If the government refuses to help us, we would be left with no other option to help ourselves.”
Betterland said the people have complained through several quarters but help has not come to the people.
“These herders are fully armed. Government should eject them from our land. All the security agencies in Bayelsa are aware, they should swing into action. No government delegation has visited the community since the incident. Government should be proactive. The people can no longer farm or go to the stream to get water because of fear of being killed.”
Apparently frustrated by the seeming indifference to the disruptions caused to lives in Zarama/Okordia/Biseni clans, the clan head of Zarama, His Majesty, King Nionio Ready, at a meeting with the Bayelsa State government led by deputy- governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudajkpo, said it was not the first time his people would suffer “unprovoked attacks from the hands of herdsmen”.
Chief Ready, who stated that the leadership of the communities in the clans have “always prevailed on the youths not to embark on counter-attacks” stressed that the government should take “appropriate actions to avoid escalation of the problem.”
The chairman, Biseni Council of Chiefs, His Royal Highness, Onumonu, paramount ruler of Akumoni-Okordia, Chief Kalama Abraham, called on security agencies to “perform their duties without any ethnic and religious bias.”
Investigations revealed that the committee set up to enforce the anti-grazing law and security agencies have been hampered because of reports that most of the cattle being handled by the herders belonged to influential Bayelans who have thwarted all moves to curtail the criminal activities of the herders.
A source in the community, who pleaded anonymity, said they were told the herders could not be punished because they worked for powerful Bayelsans, who were the owners of the cattle.
“There was a committee member whom we complained to, he kept postponing until when we complained again that herders were threatening lives, and he opened up that the cattle were owned by Bayelsans. I was mad at him. I told him, if it was owned by our people, does it warrant destroying our farmlands? Our people are farmers managing their farms to survive,” he said.
Though the commissioner for agriculture and natural resources, who is also the chairman of the Livestock Management Committee, Chief David Alagoa, did not answer calls to react to the inability of his committee to discharge its duties effectively, a member of the committee who pleaded anonymity, said the ownership of cattle by Bayelsans has not prevented disciplinary measures against erring herders. According to him, several herders and cattle have been arrested for violating the anti-open grazing law and were let off the hook after signing an undertaking.
A representative of the Hausa community in Igbogene community, Hassan Abdullahi, who decried the killing, absolved members of the Hausa community from the attacks in Zarama/Okordia/Biseni clans, declaring that they did not engage in nomadic business.
Further checks revealed that the state government, worried about fears of reprisals, had directed the deployment of armed policemen to the troubled area to forestall escalation of hostilities.
Ewhrudjakpo, who had stated this during the meeting with stakeholders from the troubled area and service commanders in the state, reminded residents of the state of the existence of the anti-open grazing law, which must not be violated.
According to him, while the administration would continue to provide the enabling environment for indigenes and non-indigenes to carry out their legitimate businesses, it would not condone any act capable of jeopardizing peace and security in the state.
He said: “We need to protect the lives of our people wherever they live, to eke out a living. Because the essence of life is for you to live and earn a living wherever you stay.
“So, it is evil for some people to override others. We will not allow that here. And so the governor has directed the immediate deployment of security personnel to both Zarama and Okordia communities to allay the fears of the people.
“For the communities, I want to assure you that you will sleep with your two eyes closed. But we will not also allow you to take the law into your hands. If we encourage that, it means we are also promoting lawlessness.
“We want affected communities and even the Hausa community to give peace a chance and allow the ongoing investigation to take its proper course.”
Latest reports from the area indicated that the state government had deployed the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo, to provide security around Lake Sam. Sources in the community said attempts by the herders to launch attacks on April 3 and 4 were repelled by the Doo Akpo operatives stationed at the area.
For now, normalcy has returned to the area but whether it can be sustained remains to be seen.
