Oyo farmers lament loss of 22 acres farmland to herdsmen

OWING to several complaints by farmers in Oyo state of herdsmen invasion of their farms, the state House of Assembly has asserted resolve to come up with a law to address the menace posed by herdsmen and their grazing activities in the state.

Speaker of the Assembly, Honourable Micheal Adeyemo, stated this at Tuesday’s petition following another petition by one Akinleye Akinkunmi and others of the destruction of their 22 acres of cassava farm by herdsmen on November 1, 2017.

Akinkunmi of Adafila village in Oriire local government area of the state had, in the petition, lamented that the herdsmen overpowered the night guards on November 1, with N2.5 million worth of investment on the farm lost to the invasion.

The petitioners had also pointed to continued threat to their lives by the herdsmen and the lamentation of security agencies of being handicapped to prosecute the herdsmen due to lack of enabling laws in the state.

Commenting, Adeyemo said, “the state Assembly is working on a law to address the herdsmen menace.”

It would be recalled that farmers and students of Ogbomoso had similarly on 31st March 2016, embarked on a protest to the state Assembly over continued damage to their farmlands as a result of the grazing activities of herdsmen.

Senate President, Federation of Ogbomoso Students’ Union, Alagbe Lukman, presenting their case, had then said it was high time the state government implemented measures to limit the damage to their farmlands and attendant negative effect on the livelihood of farmers due to the grazing activities of the herdsmen.

Irked by the growing instances of herdsmen invasion of farms, Governor Abiola Ajimobi had on May 18, 2016, ruled out night grazing but noted that the creation of ranches was a long-term measure that should be adopted to address the menace.

Ajimobi had then stated that the state government would consider acquiring lands across communities in the state for grazing, whereby cattle owners will be charged to utilize the lands.

Meanwhile, the state Assembly, in a motion by deputy majority leader, Honourable Oyatokun Oyaleke, has identified challenges hindering the optimum performance of farm settlements such as lack of good road in and around the settlements, lack of essential facilities like water, rural electrification health centres and schools.

Also up for consideration of the House Committee on Agriculture is the need for the establishment of Oyo state Farm Settlement Board to continuously oversee farm settlements and address the challenges facing the settlements in the state.