Suspected herdsmen have attacked the village again in Ajegunle-Powerline, Akure North local government area, Ondo State, killing at least five people.
Akin Olowolafe, a local farmer, corroborated the occurrence, saying that “it happened around 3pm on Tuesday.”
“These Fulani herdsmen killed 5 of our labourers. This is how they (herdsmen) usually come to disturb and destroy our crops and we have reported them to the state government and even to the security agencies but no positive actions were taken from these security agencies to stop the Fulani herdsmen activities on our farmlands,” Olowolafe said.
He added that, “These Fulani herdsmen just entered the farmlands on Tuesday as we are working and they started shooting sporadically into the air and killed 5 people during the attack.”
Olowolafe criticized the regular armed robberies and herdsmen attacks in the region, saying they had made life intolerable for them and called on authorities to act swiftly.Many farmers in the area have reportedly left their farms out of fear of being killed, he said.
He also blasted the ongoing fighting and crop destruction by the attackers, saying that the situation has compelled farmers to boycott their local fields.
The aggressive herders, Olowolafe continued, also pose a threat to their lives since they frequently murder or rape any female they come across on their farms.
Nonetheless, he urged the state government and security forces, led by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to step in and protect them from the ongoing attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
In a similar spirit, a laborer named Fidelis Daniel claimed that the attackers broke into the community around 3 p.m. on Tuesday in order to destroy the farms “and we have warned them not to come to our farmlands again but they didn’t hear. When they came, they just started shooting and killed 5 of our people that we just brought to the mortuary now.
“I was also inside the farm when the incident happened. I heard the sound of gunshots and immediately ran to the house. It was even God that saved me too, they would have killed me. They suddenly came with weapons to destroy our crops and killed five people.”
The victims’ bodies have been placed at the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital’s morgue in Akure.
Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the Police Public Relations Officer for Ondo State Command, confirmed the incident but stated that the police were unable to verify the exact number of people killed.
The PPRO stated, “There was an attack on the community, and police are still investigating. But I cannot confirm the number of people that were killed.”