The conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria has been a longstanding issue, resulting in violence and loss of lives.
ONDO, Nigeria – Women in the Akoko Southwest council area of Ondo state, South-West Nigeria, have staged a peaceful protest half-naked to condemn the resurgence of abductions, killings and other crimes by suspected herdsmen in the community.
Tension enveloped the community following the gruesome murder of a farmer, Sunday Ayeni, by Fulani herdsmen.
Consequently, farmers abandoned their farmlands for fear of attack by the rampaging herdsmen.
The deceased farm was reportedly destroyed recently by the criminal herdsmen who invaded the farm with their herds.
The owners of the cows were reportedly identified and made to pay compensation following the intervention of security agents and leaders in the community.
Irked by the verdict, the herdsmen reportedly mobilized other herdsmen and attacked the deceased.
The lifeless body of the farmer was later discovered after a search party was conducted.
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However, the women during the protest, demanded for justice for the victim, and an end to herdsmen attacks in the community.
They stormed the palace of the prominent traditional ruler of Oka, the Olubaka of Oka, Oba Adebori Adeleye, during a security meeting, half naked and without head ties.
Their spokesperson, Mrs Abigail Ojo, alleged that the suspected herdsmen raped some of their women on their farmlands and also destroyed their crops in the process.
Mrs Ojo while narrating their ordeals, said they had practically abandoned their farms
She called on security agencies help to find lasting solutions to their problems.
Responding, the traditional ruler, Oba Adebori said that the security situations in the community was been handled by relevant security agencies in the state.
Oba Adebori pleaded for time to allow the security agencies find lasting solutions to the ugly development in the community.
The Fulani people are believed to be the largest semi-nomadic group globally, found across West and Central Africa. In Nigeria, some continue to live as semi-nomadic herders, while others have moved to cities. Unlike city dwellers, the nomadic groups spend most of their lives in the bush and are often involved in clashes with farming communities, and also engage in kidnapping for ransom. They herd their animals across vast areas, frequently clashing with local farmers.
The conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria has been a longstanding issue, resulting in violence and loss of lives.
The herders now bear sophisticated weapons and use them to terrorize many parts of the country, with security operatives ignoring many of the attacks for allegedly not getting orders to go after the criminals.
Several brutal attacks happened under former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, a town in Katsina State, Nigeria.
The continuous unprovoked attacks triggered resistance in South-East region, inhabited by Igbo people and South-West region, inhabited by the Yoruba people.
A Yoruba activist and philanthropist, Chief Dr Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, demanded end to the attacks that have cost lives of thousands. He asked the Fulani people to vacate all the forests in South-West.
He is currently agitating for the freedom of the South West.
As the Akoni Oodua of Yorubaland, he is known for fighting for the rights of the Yorubas and advocating for the Oduduwa republic.