Panic has gripped residents of communities in Ethiope East and Egini community in Udu Local Government Areas of Delta State, over the fear of possible attack on the areas by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
An Okada rider narrated that two men dressed in normal shirts and trousers engaged him recently for a fee of N20,000 to take them around church locations in Eku, Okpara waterside and several other communities in the area, adding that at the end, they pointed a gun at him to scare him from demanding his money.
He said: “After I had taken them around when it was time to pay me, they showed me a gun. I was afraid and allowed them to go without paying me. It was then it dawned on me that they could be herdsmen.
“It didn’t strike me when they asked me to take them round big churches in the areas, because they were not dressed like herdsmen. I thought they were missionaries trying to identify locations of churches in the communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents of the council have also cried out over the rising cases of kidnapping on the Eku-Abraka end of the Sapele-Agbor Road, accusing herdsmen of being behind the sad situation.
A commercial bus driver, who gave his name as Onoriode , and operates the Abraka -Warri end of the road said, no week passes without an incident of kidnap.
“Commercial vehicles no longer travel from Abraka to Warri or Sapele from 5 p.m., anymore because of fear of Fulani herdsmen kidnapping on the road.
“It is so bad that there is hardly any weekend that passes without a record of a kidnap incident on the road. We have cried out and nothing much has been done.”
In Egini, Udu council, there was tension in the area when rumours went round that Fulani herdsmen wrote to the community over missing two cows.
It was gathered that the Fulani herdsmen only met with leaders of the community to tell them that two of their cows were missing, thus implying that they should produce them.
“We have been living in fear in the community since we heard this,” a resident said.
In Agbarho, Ughelli North LGA, some churches have started locking their gates while service is on.
The state government has been urged by the people of the community to enforce its anti-open grazing law signed by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration, noting that the way herders were moving cows through residential areas for grazing was worrisome.
Vanguard/ Oluwayemisi Owonikoko
pub-5160901092443552
Related Posts
