‘He wanted to behead me but I raised my right hand to defend myself; he cut off the hand’

Residents of Bolorunduro, Ladokun, Tewure and other communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State are living like hostages in their homelands. They go through each day in fear and confusion as a result of the rage of the Fulani herdsmen living in their communities. The villagers continue to count their losses in the wake of incessant invasion of their farmlands, killings and maimings of their kinsmen by the herders who are now their strange bedfellows.

Bolorunduro village had a bitter experience of the rage of the Fulani herdsmen about four weeks ago. Precisely on Thursday, May 23, a yet-to-be-identified herdsman from Igbeti  severed the hand of Adamu Issa, a Togolese farmer living in the village for preventing him from grazing his herds on his cassava plantation.

The young peasant farmer has just returned to the village after being hospitalised at the teaching hospital in Ogbomoso for two weeks. He looks forlorn and disoriented as he recalled the occurrence.

While narrating his ordeal in the hands of his assailant,  Issa said: “On that fateful day, I was working on the farm while my wife and son were also busy at the other end. At a point, the herdsmen arrived with their cattle. I told them not to vandalise my farm by feeding their cattle on it. They first went away but suddenly a few minutes afterwards, I noticed that someone was coming towards me from the back. By the time I turned round to check who was coming, the Fulani lad had raised his cutlass up.

“He wanted to behead me but I raised my right hand to defend myself. He cut off the hand that I used to defend myself. I collapsed and he took to his heels. I was jolted back to life shortly after and started writhing in pain and calling for help. Other villagers rushed to the scene when my wife, Gbera and Amidu, my son cried for help. The villagers took me to Ikoyi Police Station. From there, the police led me to the teaching hospital in Ogbomoso for treatment.”

Issa said that findings by the villagers showed that his assailant was one of the boys working with a Fulani man in Igbeti, a town which is about 45 kilometers away from Bolorunduro. Issa said that he was disappointed that for the period of two weeks that he was at the hospital, the police did not arrest the suspect that maimed him.

Issa said he never envisaged that such fate would befall him during his sojourn in Nigeria. He explained: “When I was coming to Nigeria, I was full of hope that all would be well. I was determined to work hard and make a lot of money. Now my ambition is cut short as I can’t work effectively as before. The Fulani man, whose boy cut off my hand, visited me once after leaving the hospital and he did not say anything significant about my attacker”.

Following the gruesome encounter, Issa said that he lacked the courage to go to his farm ever since he returned from the hospital despite the fact that farming is his only means of livelihood. Findings showed that his family members are already bearing the brunt of Issa’s misfortune as it has become difficult to fend for the family. Amidu, his son has perpetually been in fright ever since he saw his father in the pool of his blood.

The six-year-old could not understand why his father was subjected to the horrific tragedy that left him amputated. He was simply asking, “Daddy, what happened? Who cut your hand?” The wife sobs all the time. She has since been longing to go back to their country in order to keep away from trouble.

The 25-year-old man, who got to Bolorunduro three years ago, said that  although he had always heard of Fulani herdsmen’s violence, but he never experienced their terror until the recent attack. With his present condition, Isaa is considering the idea of relocating to his country.

That was not his first bitter experience with the herdsmen. According to him, the herders had vandalised his cassava farm in late 2018. Issa, who specialises in cassava and tomato cultivation, said that with the attitude of the herdsmen, farming is becoming unattractive in the community.

The Baale of Bolorunduro community, Chief Oyedokun Adeboye, who decried his people’s experience in the hands of the herdsmen, said: “On the faithful day, I was not at home. I went somewhere to settle dispute. When I returned, I saw a huge crowd at the public square. On a closer look, I saw the young man writhing in pain. I called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to intimate him about the matter. We rallied round him to ensure that he was well taken care of in the hospital.

“The police has not made any arrest. The Seriki Fulani in the area is pleading that we should settle. However, we are insisting that they should be responsible for his treatment and that they should pay the victim handsomely so that he can return to his country with sufficient amount of money with which he can start a new life,” the Baale said.

The chief said that few days after Issa’s experience, other farms had also been vandalised. “We are feeling so insecure as a result of the mindless onslaught of the Fulani herdsmen in our village and adjoining communities.”

He said apart from the Fulani herdersmen, a young herder in the village called Haroun is also a threat to the villagers. He alleged that Haroun had been reported to the police for causing trouble on several occasions. “He always invades our farms with his cattle and if confronted he would be threatening the farmers. I have reported him at the police station on several occasions.

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“Sometimes in April, he grazed his cattle on our farmlands and dared us to confront him when we warned him never to repeat that again. We took him up on it but surprisingly, he brought in the police and got us arrested despite the fact that his cattle destroyed cassava stem worth about N400,000 in our farm.”

Ayandiji Makinde, one of the farmers whose farm was reportedly vandalised after Issa’s attack, is still suffering in silence. He said that he ran bankrupt as a result of the losses he incurred when cattle vandalised his farm.

Chairman, Idera Agbe, a farmers’ association in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mr Ezekiel Amole, appealed to government to rise to the aid of farmers in the council area before the situation went out of hand.

He said: “We are tired of the Fulani herdsmen in Bolorunduro village and other neighbouring communities. They have no regard for human life. They maim and kill people at will and they continue because they are not brought to book. They rape both young and old women. We have come to the point of decision; we have resolved that we don’t want the Fulani herdsmen in our community any longer.”

The chairman, who is based in Tewure village, said the herdsmen were very aggressive, “they attack just anybody on flimsy grounds.”

Secretary, Idera Agbe Farmers Association, Oriire Local Government Chief Joseph Oyekola, described the experiences of farmers in the community as horrible and sad. He said the herders were mindless in grazing their herds on their farm.  “When you question them, they will become violent. When we report them at the station, the police will say that we should go and resolve with them.

“We are left with the option of turning to court. Interestingly, they have their own farm but would not allow the cattle to graze on it. At the moment, it is very difficult for us to farm. Our hope of survival is on the farm but we are afraid to go to farm because of the herdsmen. Government is asking us to toe the path of peace with the Fulani herdsmen who are violent and bloodthirsty; how is that possible? If we summon courage and go to our farm, by next day you will be surprised at what you will see.

“The herders sometimes go to the extent of raping our women and daughters on the farm and along footpaths in the villages.  We want the government to rise to our aid.”

A villager, who gave his name simply as Sunday, appealed to Oyo State government to enact a law prohibiting the herders from grazing their cattle on people’s farmlands. He added also that the police personnel in the area should be transferred and replaced with new set of officers and men saying, “The policemen in the division have compromised. It is sad that even on some occasions when we go to the station to report the herdsmen for vandalising our farm they would turn the case against us.

“Presently, people are living in fear and nobody wants to go to the farm anymore. When it becomes compelling we go to farm in groups to forestall possible attack by the herdsmen.”

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Police Command has refuted claims by the villagers that the police failed to act on Issa’s case. The Public Relations Officer in the Command, SP Olugbenga Fadeyi, who confirmed Issa’s attack, said: “The suspect is still at large and the police is still on his trail. consequent upon this, the case has been transfered to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan for discrect investigation into the matter.”