Palpable tension gripped 2nd Abumere Ojigbelu Camp in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State as scores of suspected herdsmen, all dressed in military uniform, reportedly invaded the farming community and chased away the villagers.
The invading herdsmen were also reported to have taken over the villagers’ property, including their farms as the residents fled to take refuge in Okada and adjourning communities.
The fleeing villagers narrated their tales of woes to journalists in Benin City.
One of the residents, Mr. Mattu Alli, who hails from Taraba State, said that he had lived in the now deserted camp for 20 years, expressing shock at the invasion.
“In fact, I am short of words to explain what I witnessed yesterday in our community. I have been here for the past 20 years with my family, farming. I was in my compound with my family having a good time when we started to hear the sound of guns and people running in different directions,” he said.
“I saw one Benin man running towards my compound and I asked him: ‘where are you running to?’ He said herdsmen have taken over the village, chasing people away from their houses. So, I called my wife and we had to run for our lives.
“I did not see my children. Every one of us ran in different directions. As I speak to you now, I don’t know the whereabouts of my wife and children,” Alli said.
“Another thing that put fears into our minds is that one of the herdsmen pointed a gun at me and said ‘look man we are for peace, we would only kill you, people, if you refuse to allow our cows to feed on your crops. The yams you people have are for our cows, the cassava and all that you have are for our cows. If you people touch our cows we will kill everybody in this village’. For us to be safe we ran to the next community,” the displaced farmer added.
Another victim, who also spoke with journalists, Mr Sunday Chimen, said: “I have been in this village for over 20 years plus farming. What we saw yesterday surprised us. Suddenly, we heard gunshots and people started running, we later discovered that herdsmen had taken over our community with sophisticated AK-47 rifles and threatened to kill us if we didn’t cooperate with them. For us to be alive, we decided to run for our dear lives, leaving our properties with our children running to an unknown place.”
“We are calling on the security agencies to come to our aid as our community is under siege,” Chimen pleaded.
One of the affected women Mrs Ngozi Chimen said: “The nefarious activities of these Fulani herdsmen have been on in our community since the last two months. They enter into our farms, cut our plantain to feed their cows. They Chase us away from farms. You dare not look at their faces. Some of them are in Army uniforms. Just on the 2nd of January 2022, they invaded our village and chase everybody away. We need help, we need security, we need government assistance,” she said.
When contacted, Edo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Kotongs Bello, said he had not been briefed on the development.
He, however, promised to get back as soon as he speaks with the Division Police Officer in charge of the area. He was yet to do so as at the time of filing this report.
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