Farmers in some communities in Ekiti State are currently lamenting the huge losses being suffered in the hands of cattle rearers from the North since the advent of harmattan.
According to the farmers, cattle rearers encroached their plantations with their animals thereby plundering their crops.
They said that it would take long for them to recover from the losses which they suffered. Some of the farmers said that their losses run into several millions of naira.
They stated that their farmlands, spanning several hectares of land were plundered by the herdsmen who fed their cattle with their crops.
However, the farmers appealed to both the state and the federal government to curtail the herdsmen from destroying their investments in the interest of peace.
The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, had expressed concerns about the crises between farmers and herders as well as other crimes in the farms that posed great threats to peace and food security in the state.
In September 2023, the governor reconstituted the state Farmers-Herders Peace Committee comprising cattle breeders, herdsmen, farmers, security outfits, and traditional rulers among other stakeholders.
The affected farmers were saddled with the responsibilities of mitigating clashes between farmers and herdsmen and ensuring a greater level of productivity.
In November 2023, the committee extracted a commitment from stakeholders to prevent nomadic herders from grazing on farms in the state.
An affected farmer, who identified himself as Ibrahim, alleged that between December 2023 and January 2024, about 30 farmers’ farms were destroyed by Fulani herders.
He appealed to Governor Oyebanji, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti, Dare Ogundare; and the Commandant of Ekiti Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Olu Adewa (retd.), to save the people from what he described as the unwarranted and willful destruction.
Jamiu Ahmed, also an affected farmer said, “Following the destruction of our farms in December last year, we made efforts to see the Commissioner of Police. When we later reported the matter to the Odo Ado Division. The Divisional Police Officer assured that the Police would take steps to stop them. The Police from the Odo Ado Division went there, and two of the herders were arrested.
“My farm was ravaged in 2022 the same way it was destroyed in December last year. When we cried out early last year, Amotekun operatives went there, but they could not arrest them before the rains came last year.
“The herders returned in December last year and ruined the farm. As I speak, all my cassava and yam seedlings on the farm were destroyed. The same thing applies to all of us who have farms there. The herders uprooted our cassava to feed their cows.
“We plead with the government to intensify steps on this. All our cassava and yam seedlings have been ravaged. The government should help us by proffering lasting solutions to this incessant destruction of our crops.”
The affected farmers, however pleaded that the government should rise to the occasion by addressing the issue to save the farmers from hunger.
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