Some rural communities in Ondo State are reportedly being deserted following incessant attacks by some bandits described by inhabitants as killer herdsmen.
The inhabitants of the villages in the state lamented the series of attacks, kidnappings and killings being experienced from the killer herders.
The villagers, apart from living in fear, said that their means of survival were being threatened due to continued invasion by the killer herdsmen.
According to them, commercial activities in the villages are being hampered leading to food scarcity, displacement and hunger.
Record has it that over 4,000 farmers had been killed in the south western states since 2015 when the gruesome attacks on villages in the zone became intensified.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data indicates that Nigeria had lost no fewer than 8,343 persons to the farmers-herders conflict since 2005.
Recall that the South-West governors inaugurated the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed ‘Amotekun’ on January 9, 2020 to tackle the menace of insecurity by the killer herders.
Despite the initiative by the governments of the six South-West states, insecurity remains a problem due to persistent attacks by the killers herdsmen.
A resident of Akoko who claimed she often visited Ifon community, explained that it was always scary for travellers to embark on journeys.
She said, “I live after Arigidi Akoko but I often commute on the road that leads to Ifon. I have a friend I visit regularly. That road is now lonely. The Amotekun men have practically been overpowered at that place because it’s like the epicentre of killer herdsmen. They sacked an entire community.”
A king in one of the communities, who didn’t want his name in print, said he employed local security men to complement the efforts of the Amotekun but according to him, the situation did not improve.
A farmer in Igbara Oke, Ifedore Local Government Area of the state, named Femi Adeyele, said, “I met them (herdsmen) on my 50 hectares cassava plantation. I was somewhere watching and I saw them uprooting my cassava to feed their cows. This angered me and I came out of where I was and ordered them to leave my farm but instead, as I put the phone to make a call to the Amotekun, they hit me with cutlass and I began to bleed.”
That, he said, was why the inhabitants of the villages in the axis were left with no other choice than to desert their farmlands and communities to avoid being killed by the killer herdsmen.
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