Six Killed In Ondo State

Six people have been killed in separate attacks that took place in four communities in Ose Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State.

The violence was the result of a clash between farmers and herders in the area. According to reports, the herders had been continuously invading the farmers’ lands at night and harvesting their crops to feed their animals. This had led to the farmers trying to fend off the herders from destroying their crops.

According to a community leader, Mr. Owolafe Folorunsho, the herders would come during the day, force the farmers to uproot their cassava crops and then cut them into pieces at gunpoint to feed their cows. The farmers had reported this act of economic sabotage to the appropriate authorities, who took prompt action to chase the herders out of the farming areas.

However, the herders returned and attacked the farmers with dangerous weapons. Mr. Folorunsho described the attacks as “laying ambush” and stated that the attackers had killed all the occupants of a car carrying traders from Akure, took their money and then set the car on fire.

A leader of the affected communities, Oba Rotimi Obamuwagun, revealed that the herders had destroyed four hectares of a cassava farm belonging to one of his subjects, who had borrowed money from a commercial bank to finance the farm.

The Odibiado of Ijagba, Oba Andrew Ikioya Ilevare, added that the bandits had now resorted to harvesting plantains and selling them in the market.

The Chairman of the local government, Prince Adekunle Dennis, visited the communities to assess the situation and has promised to take urgent action to checkmate the excesses of the herders.

He said he would be meeting with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to redesign the security architecture of the locality and charged the youths to improve on intelligence information gathering to prevent a reoccurrence of such incidents. Efforts are also being made to recover the four camps, Molege, Ugboruwen, Elerinta, and Adedigba, from the attackers.

In response to the situation, the police have deployed officers to the area. The Ondo Police spokesman, Funmilayo Odunlami, has confirmed that the police are taking measures to ensure the safety and security of the communities in the LGA