Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, last Friday, killed a 35-year-old man, whose name was given as Emeka Joe, at Obelle in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Sources in the community alleged that two unidentified suspects dressed in herders attire, hired the late motorcycle rider to take them to Elele in Ikwerre Local Government Area on the fateful day.
The aggrieved source explained that when the rider did not return home that night, his wife raised alarm and his fellow motorcycle riders searched the route and discovered his corpse in a nearby bush while the motorcycle was not found.
The deceased, it was gathered, lost his father some years ago, had a wife, three children, and an aged mother who depended on him for their livelihood.
As at press time, the corpse had been buried and Police was yet to comment on it.
Meanwhile, farmers in Obelle have lamented imminent hunger in the area because of the damage done to their farms by rampaging herds of cattle.
A cross-section of the farmers grieved that the farms they cultivated before crisis ravaged the community early this year have been destroyed by cows.
They complained that the herders have at different times threatened to attack them whenever they protested against the damage to their crops.
The Tide source learnt that petitions by the leaders of the community to the authorities at the Elele military cantonment where a majority of the herders are suspected to migrate from, was yet to be given the required attention.
The destruction of farmlands and the boldness of the herders and their insistence that their cows must feed has been discomforting to the farmers, according to the source.
This, the source explained further, is in addition to the high cost of cultivating farms resulting from the shortage of labourers in the community due to the crisis in the community.

By: King Onunwor