Farmers Want RSG To Caution Herdsmen

Farmers have called on the
Rivers State Government to intervene on their behalf as activities of Fulani herdsmen are posing threats to their farms.
One of the farmers who spoke to The Tide, Mr Emmanuel Dike, a native of Rumuji in Emohua Local Government Area of the State said it was important for the state and local government to act quickly in order to avoid a possible clash between farmers and herdsmen.
Narrating his recent ordeal, Dike said he had earlier sent one of his sons and daughter to harvest cassava from their farm with a promise to join them later.
But to his surprise, according to him, his two children came back after a short while breathing heavily with report that herdsmen were on their farm and that their cattle had ravaged the cassava farm.
Continuing, he said on getting to the farm with his children the herdsmen had left and moved on to other farmlands, causing destruction along their trail.
He said since they were a peaceful people, they could not confront the Fulani herdsmen as they were always armed.
Another farmer Mr Olunwo John Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state who also spoke to our correspondent said their farms were prone to the activities of the herdsmen because they were based in Ahoada and Elele Alimini.
According to her, their main crops consist of maize and cassava and over the years they have had to contend with the destructive cattle.
She said the cattle handlers were always overwhelmed by the animals due to their number as they always stray to the farms each time they try to control them.
The Tide further gathered that the menace posed by the herdsmen cut across all of the adjoining local government areas of Ahoada East, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ikwerre, Emohua, Abual/Odual and Ahoada West.
It was further gathered that efforts by the farmers to speak with the Hausa community with a view to addressing the matter has not yielded fruitful results as the identity of the owners of the cattle could not be ascertained.
According to a farmer who asked not to be named, when confronted, the young Fulani men who move around with the cattle claim not to understand the English language for fear of revealing the identities of the owners.
However, a plantain farmer who gave his name as Buduka Joel said they were planning to farm a united front to enable them present their case to the appropriate quarters.
He said they would not take the laws into their hands because the Hausas have lived in the area for a long time with some of them bestowed with chieftaincy titles in Ekpeye and elsewhere.
When contracted, one Hausa elder who would not give his name said cattle eating crops on farms was not deliberate but was mere straying along the line of grazing.

Women preparing food during a practical session on processing food for school feeding and family nourishment organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Gombe.