From Joseph Obukata, Warri
For Maureen, mother of a young boy who was among four others that narrowly escaped death in a ghastly motor accident caused by stray cows in Effurun, a business hub of Delta State, these are trying times.
Since the accident occurred on August 6, along Refinery Road, a busy and popular dual carriageway that leads to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Maureen has been having a hard time shuttling every day between her home in the Enerhen area of Effurun and where her son is hospitalised.
The victims almost died as large cows took over the road, leaving behind a trail of dung and traffic disruption. Witnesses disclosed that two of the cows suddenly rammed into a car, causing the crash that left occupants of the vehicle hospitalised and in critical condition.
“The cows strayed from the lane where they were walking and crashed into a speeding vehicle, which almost somersaulted. The occupants of the vehicle were badly injured and the vehicle was damaged beyond repair. Other road users and passersby scampered for their lives as the remaining cows strayed in different directions”, a witness said.
The herders, sensing danger, reportedly disappeared into thin air, leaving the victims trapped in the vehicle until they were rescued.
All efforts to reach the accident victims were unsuccessful but one of those who reacted to the incident on social media, Jike Obeghare, said: “I saw this scene yesterday along Refinery Road by the naval base airstrip; I didn’t know cows were the cause. May God help us. Anti-open grazing law enacted by most states is mere lip service.”
Maureen told our correspondent: “Yes, I am the mother of one of the victims but you can’t talk to the boys now because they are still receiving treatment. They wouldn’t allow you to see them because the case is still serious and they have not gained strength to talk to you for now. What I can tell you is that the accident caused by the stray cow has traumatised us seriously.”
Reacting to the incident, Theophilus Onojeghen, a journalist and development advocate, wondered at Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s failure to enforce the anti-open grazing law he signed in the state last year.
“Okowa signed an anti-open grazing bill into law but failed woefully to enforce it. This is my street in Effurun. This is what we pass through daily. You dare not ask them to move their cattle to one part of the road,” he said.
Residents of many communities in the state are tormented by herders who roam about with their cattle with impunity because of the non-implementation of the anti-open gazing law. From Effurun to Ughelli, Abraka, Agbarho-Otor and Uwherun, Agbor and even Asaba, the state capital, where herders roam about with their cattle from one place to another, it is the same story. This has resulted in clashes, rape, killings, maiming, bloodletting and accidents.
Okowa, in October 2021, criminalised open grazing of livestock in the state and in December of the same year constituted and inaugurated the 19-member Livestock Management Committee to ensure that the law against open grazing was effectively implemented.
The development had brought some measure of joy to farmers and increased the confidence reposed in the state government to solve the challenge of Fulani herders’ menace. Unfortunately, about 10 months after the law came into being in the state, implementation has been a mirage and like a mere paper policy tailored to douse tension generated at that time in the state. What many thought would finally end the nightmare of cattle roaming the streets and trampling on people has ended up achieving no result, as recent developments show there is no end in sight to the menace of the herders and their rampaging cattle.
Findings showed that, since the law criminalizing open grazing was signed, attacks on farmers and communities have not abated. In February, a farmer, Mr. Okpako, was killed at his farmland in Abraka community by suspected herdsmen, who buried him in a shallow grave. The decomposing body wrapped in a sack was exhumed from the grave days after he went to the farm and didn’t return home.
Another incident occurred on June 6 at Obiaruku, Ukwuani LGA, where a 52-year- old hunter, Mr. Ezubuchi, was killed by herders who reportedly shot him in the bush while he was on a hunting expedition at night.
Another case was that of the councillor representing Ward 5, Ethiope East LGA, Mr. Jude Adjekpovu, who was reportedly shot by herdsmen as they attempted to kidnap him along Eku Road on December 4, 2021. He was on his way to Abraka and died 12 days later at a hospital where he was receiving treatment.
The most unfortunate and devastating of all recent cases was that of a three-month-old baby killed by a cow in Ebrumede community, Effurun, on Monday, August 4. The cow was being escorted to a buyer by two herdsmen when it suddenly strayed off the DSC Expressway, by the Ebrumede Magistrate’s Court, near the DSC roundabout, and attacked a woman from the rear.
The baby strapped to her mother’s back was said to have been gored by the cow’s horns and died on the spot before medical assistance could be provided.
The cow’s horns broke the baby’s skull. The cow was also said to have injured an elderly man after running into the nearby court premises, where lawyers and their clients fled for their lives.
In his reaction to cattle wandering and constituting nuisance to the state, Enis Ogegere, a youth leader from Agbarha Otor, Ughelli North LGA, said: “In my community and Delta as a whole, the questions we should be asking ourselves are, did the state government truly sign the anti-open grazing bill into law? Can we say the implementation of law is effective in Delta?
“The answer to the question of whether it is being implemented across the communities in Delta is no.
“In Agbarha-Otor, we still have cases of herders and their cows roaming about the streets and destroying crops of farmers. Agbarha indigenes have been very peaceful with these band of lawbreakers with no conscience, who have been resident in the community for over one decade.
“They still go about destroying our crops and if you dare to talk or harm their cow, the only thing that comes out is threat to your life.”
Decrying the activities of herders, Okpako Oniovosa, a resident at Adeje community, said: “Fulani herdsmen are largely behind kidnapping around the Elume Bridge area of the Sapele-Warri Road though police have stepped up visibility around the Elume axis of the road.
“They are still all over our bushes with their cows and weapons. From Opuraja to Elume and even down to Amukpe Roundabout, you see their cows grazing openly.”
Worried by the ugly developments in communities in the state, the Warri branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) in a recent press release, urged the Delta State Government to engage and synergize with the security forces to clear herdsmen from communities under siege, particularly farmlands and homes around the Ohoror-Bomadi Road.
While decrying the security situation along the Eku-Abraka Road, the lawyers also told the state government to ensure that the herdsmen were also cleared from that route. They held that the road was no longer safe for travellers.
The statement, signed by its branch chairman and secretary, Chief Oghenero Okoro and S.G. Ediagbonuvie, respectively, lamented: “That the security state of the Eku-Abraka Road and also the Ohoror-Bomadi Road is now very alarming. Fulani herdsmen have reportedly taken over the entire stretch of the Eku-Abraka Road, daily kidnapping, killing, raping and maiming our people. This also is the scenario on the Ohoror-Bomadi Road stretch, where farmers have been forced to flee their farms and their homes and the same have been taken over by these Fulani herdsmen and other bandits/criminals.
“That the state should engage and synergize immediately with the security forces to safeguard the lives and property of persons travelling along the Eku-Abraka Road by clearing out the herdsmen who have taken over these areas. This also goes for the herdsmen who have also taken over farm lands and homes of Deltans in the communities along the Ohoror-Bomadi Road.”