No fewer than five persons have been killed by suspected herdsmen in Ajegunle-Powerline, Akure North local government area of Ondo State during a renewed attack on the community.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the victims were labourers who came to work on the farms in the community.
A farmer in the area, Akin Olowolafe, confirmed the incident to our correspondent in Akure, disclosing that “the incident happened around 3pm on Tuesday.
“These Fulani herdsmen killed 5 of our labourers. This is how they (herdsmen) usually come to disturb and destroy our crops and we have reported them to the state government and even to the security agencies but no positive actions were taken from these security agencies to stop the Fulani herdsmen activities on our farmlands,” Olowolafe said.
He further stated that, “These Fulani herdsmen just entered the farmlands on Tuesday as we are working and they started shooting sporadically into the air and killed 5 people during the attack.”
While lamenting that herdsmen attacks and armed robbery which occur on a daily basis in the area have made life unbearable for them, Olowolafe urged authorities to intervene as quickly as possible.
According to him, many farmers in the community have fled their farms for fear of being killed.
He further decried the incessant clashes and destruction of crops by the assailants, adding that the development has forced farmers to boycott their farms in the area.
Olowolafe added that the combative herdsmen also constitute threat to their lives, claiming that the hoodlums often kill or rape any female they met on their farms.
He, however, called on the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa-led state government and security agencies to intervene and save them from constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
Speaking in the same vein, a labourer, Fidelis Daniel said the assailants stormed the community 3pm on Tuesday to destroy the farms “and we have warned them not to come to our farmlands again but they didn’t hear. When they came, they just started shooting and killed 5 of our people that we just brought to the mortuary now.
“I was also inside the farm when the incident happened. I heard the sound of gunshots, and immediately ran to the house. It was even God that saved me too, they would have killed me. They suddenly came with weapons to destroy our crops and killed five people.”
The bodies of the victims have been deposited at the morgue of the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Akure.
Confirming the attack, Police Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Command, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya said the police cannot confirm the numbers of those killed in the attack.
The PPRO said, “There was an attack on the community, and police are still investigating. But I cannot confirm the number of people that were killed.”
