By Christopher Oji
A Nigerian in the Diaspora, Mr. Olanshile Oni, has called on President Bola Tinubu to prevail on security agencies to do something urgently about killer herdsmen who have wasted many lives and sacked many communities, especially in Ogun State.
Narrating his ordeals in a telephone conversation on farmer/herdsmen clashes in his community, Oni, who said his life was no longer safe as herdsmen have declared him an endangered specie, wondered how strangers would come to another man’s land, kill the rightful owners and take over the place.
Oni, who recounted how herdsmen killed his elder brother, Lanre, and attempted to kill him, but he managed to escape by divine intervention, said the government should do something drastic about the security situation in Ogun State.
“I still remember vividly the evening of Friday, February 15, 2022, the Fulani community in Orile Aiyetoro, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, was told that three of its members had been attacked where they were grazing their cattle.
“Those who rushed to the scene found many dead cows, but none of the young herders. Two months after the incident, they remain missing.
“Earlier in January, some herders had been attacked around Agbede Aworo in Imeko Afon Local Government Area of the state. The Fulani community claimed six of its members were killed in that incident. However, in a reprisal, the herders destroyed many houses and killed several persons in Aworo.
“My elder brother, Lanre, was among those who were butchered like rams. I wept uncontrollably as I hid somewhere and watched helplessly how my blood brother was killed in a most horrific manner. They shot him, used cutlasses and axes to butcher him like an animal.
“Yet, accounts from the police and residents of Aworo showed that the residents were not even aware of the attack on the herders until after the reprisal. According to the police, the herders had a problem with another community, Imeko Afon, from where they fled to Aworo. However, the herders on their revenge mission attacked Aworo because that was where they had found the bodies of their members.
“In the last one year, several farmers and herders have been killed in Ogun State in clashes ignited by cattle grazing farmlands in agrarian communities. I reported the killing of my brother and others to security agencies and the community, but nothing was done, rather, the herders said I was among those who attacked them and killed their cow, and that I must pay with my blood.
“Herdsmen are so desperate and daring that they wrote to my community that they were coming and that I must pay with my blood. How could they kill my brother and still want me dead and there’s nobody to stop them? All my people could say was that I should run away from the country, because I have been marked for death. The worst is that they have threatened to get me anywhere I run to in the country, so, I decided to flee my country.
“But that I fled my country and leaving my people is not the best. I have been forced to separate from my people and ancestral home. I am not happy about the situation in my country. That is why I am appealing to President Tinubu to meet with security agencies, especially the police, to do something drastic about herdsmen who have been attacking innocent farmers and sacking them from their communities. With the level of havoc being caused by killer herdsmen, who sack farmers, destroy farm produce and feed their cattle with farm produce, there will soon be food shortage. I also see people having seminars about security challenges, but no one is looking at food insecurity. If the federal government wants to get it right, they should implement open grazing laws and make sure that those armed herdsmen are removed from our bushes.
“I am amazed whenever I see policemen seizing machetes from people, but (leaving) allowing Fulani herdsmen who are armed with AK-47 rifles and other high caliber guns to walk round our communities unchallenged. My brother is gone for real, but I fled the country because if I am killed, no one would do anything about it.
“I am appealing to the governments, especially that of Ogun State, to do something drastic about herdsmen. There is a law that unlicensed and unauthorised persons should not carry guns in Nigeria, but even kid herdsmen are seen carrying sophisticated arms. Who authorised them to be using arms to intimidate farmers?
“The worst is that they rape our women and young girls, kidnap our people in our bushes and still collect ransom from us. The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, should step in and bring the killer herdsmen to book. Governor Dapo Abiodun should sign the anti grazing bill into law, so that the killer herdsmen should stop grazing in our farms.”