Suspected herdsmen have attacked operatives of the
Ondo State Amotekun Corps while they were enforcing anti-grazing law
120-Cows-Seized-As-Suspected-Herdsmen-Attack-Amotekun-Operatives-in-Ondo-State
Suspected herdsmen have attacked operatives of the
Ondo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun Corps, at the Igoba
community, in the Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
The herdsmen allegedly launched the attack on the
Amotekun operatives while the latter enforced the anti-open grazing law
operational in the state.
Precisely, it was learned that the ugly incident
occurred when the personnel of the corps arrested over 120 cows and their
herders for grazing and destroying tomato farms worth millions of naira.
The spokesperson for the Amotekun Corps in the state,
Jimoh Adeniken, who confirmed the attack in a statement on Saturday said the
officers were acting on complaints from farmers in the Igoba and Osi
communities about cows’ constant destruction of their farms.
Adeniken said one of the officers was hacked by the
armed herdsmen during the attack.
The spokesperson disclosed that the herdsmen
were armed with stones, bottles and cutlasses, which they used to attack the
officers.
“Upon constant complaints from many farmers in the
Igoba and Osi areas of Akure North Local Government since the 6th of May 2024
till date, the agency of Amotekun corps from the Headquarters in Alagbaka
Akure, responded today dated 5th of July 2024, at about 1600 hours,” he said.
operation, the corps surveillance team was led to the
farms by the owners. On getting there, they met over one hundred and twenty
cows ravaging the farms and there was nobody with the cows.
“Determined to enforce the anti-open grazing law of
the state, the operatives of the Amotekun corps moved the cows out of the
farms, and while passing by the Sango Area, at Igoba, along Ado Road in Akure,
groups of armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the officers with stones, bottles,
cutlasses, and guns.”
According to Adeniken, the officers had to quickly retreat to base on the order
from the Command, as the attackers continued throwing stones and bottles till
the Amotekun operatives escaped to the main road.
He added the state government will continue to pursue with vigor, through
lawful means, to ensure strict compliance with the law to ensure that the efforts
of farmers would not be truncated through the destruction of their farmlands by
herders and their cows