Nigeria

Outrage as armed herdsmen reportedly kill policeman, farmer in Edo state

Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 8:39 AM by Jerrywright Ukwu

- The menace of killer herdsmen in Edo state has continued unabated

- A farmer was said to been gunned down by the rampaging herdsmen last weekend

- Protesters from the farmer's community took to the highway to vent their anger over the activities of the herdsmen

Suspected herdsmen have killed a farmer and a policeman in Owan community, Ovia north-east local government area of Edo state.

According to The Nation, the farmer's identity was yet to be ascertained as at the time of the report.

He was said to have been killed on Saturday, January 25, while his brother was also shot by the armed herdsmen.

When community leaders called in the police to help retrieve the body, the herdsmen reportedly fired at the police.

Angry members of the community members in protest blocked the Bénin-Akure highway and sought government attention to the crisis.

Motorists plying the road were stranded for several hours that the protest lasted.

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Armed herdsmen shot at me in my Makurdi farm, says Gov Ortom

Before now, the Benin-Akure highway was known for its high level of security as motorists are attacked frequently on the highway.

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Recently in Enugu, a rice farm with produce worth N17 million in Akpugo in Nkanu East local government area of the state was recently destroyed by herdsmen.

The herders who invaded the farm threatened to deal with anybody who dared to stop their cattle from grazing.

In Ekiti, a magistrates’ court sitting in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, January 21 arraigned three herdsmen for alleged unlawful destruction of a rice farm worth N4.5 million.

The accused persons are Nafiu Mohammed (20), Mohammed Audu (20) and Bumba Karba (17) and they were arraigned by the police on a count charge of malicious damage before Chief Magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye.

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Recently the Catholic Archbishop of Benin City, Dr Augustin Akubueze, and the Catholic Bishop of Uromi Diocese, Dr Donatus Ogun, both appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the issue of the growing attacks of hoodlums in Edo state.

Akubueze and Ogun said the appeal became urgent following the brazenness with which the herdsmen commit atrocities in the state without adequate security checks.

The catholic archbishop stressed that the responsibility of a government is to secure her people, adding: “What we are asking for is not too much for our president.

“If there is no security of lives and property, no investments or meaningful economic development can take place in the state and the nation at large.

“We need security and we are demanding that from our government.”

Akubueze noted that the spate of attacks by so-called herdsmen across the country “is becoming frightening,” adding: “There is an urgent need by the state and federal government to deal with the issue of security to protect lives and property of Nigerians with all seriousness.”