Crops worth millions of naira lost as Fulani herdsmen destroy farms in Osun state

The last is yet to be heard of the Fulani herdsmen menace as new stories of their destructive and callous activities crop up everyday. The latest is from Osun state where they are alleged to have laid waste to vast tracts of farmland destroying produce worth millions of naira in the process. Two communities in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State are counting their losses after unfortunate encounters with the herdsmen.

One of the farms in Oki village is owned by a lecturer at the Department of Business Administration at The Polytechnic, Imesi Ile, Mr. Patrick Olaniyan, while  the rampaging herdsmen also destroyed the cassava plantation belonging Joseph Osundare in Uro village. Lamenting his plight at the hands of the marauders, Olaniyan said:

“I was away in Ibadan when this happened. All the heaps of yam that I planted were eaten by the cattle and the herders. The yam was ready for harvest and I was just waiting for the appropriate time to harvest it and take everything  the market but this is what they have done.

“A similar incident happened in October  and I went to report to the leader of the Hausa/Fulani community in Imesi Ile. He just promised that he would talk to the cattle rearers to stop driving their cattle into my farm. But how long will I continue to suffer these  kinds of losses.

“I was about to harvest the yam and they drove their animals there and destroyed everything. The cattle ate most of it and I think their herders removed the remaining and carted them away.

“They also visited the farm of the vice principal of the secondary school inside The Polytechnic. The man had an accident and was hospitalised, still these people went to his farm and destroyed all his crops. How will Nigerians be encouraged to invest in crop production with this type of destruction and they do it all over the country. Fulani people would come here and drive us out of the farms yet the government has not seen anything wrong in it." 

It was also gathered that royalty was not spared as the herdsmen visited a plantain farm belonging to a Prince of Imesi, Samuel Ajiboye.