Says Subjects No Longer Go To Farm
By Ovie Okpare
The traditional Ruler of Abavo Kingdom, HRM Obi Uche Irenuma ll in the Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State has raised the alarm that his kingdom and her people under siege over alleged incessant attacks by herdsmen operating in the area.
He, however, sort both the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency on the area over the worsening insecurity in the kingdom.
The monarch disclosed this in a statement made available to NIGER DELTA TODAY Online on Sunday.
The royal father lamented that the people of the kingdom now live at the mercy of arms-wielding suspected Fulani herdsmen who rape, maim, kidnap and kill his subjects at will.
According to him, people of the area who are predominantly farmers are attacked on daily basis by herders who operate unchecked in the kingdom.
“For the past three months, farmers cannot go to their farms, the ones that had yam barns in their farms have been converted as food for the cattle by the alleged herders”, Obi Irenuma ll said.
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The traditional ruler further disclosed that two of his subjects have been kidnapped along the Obianyima-Okpe road and that tension had heightened in the community as a result of the unwholesome activities of the herdsmen.
He said investigation had revealed that the herders were operating more than seven camps in Obianyima, Ekwuoma, Azuowa and Oyoko communities in his Kingdom.
The Abavo king revealed that as a result of the frequent attacks, residents of the area have abandoned their farms for fear of being kidnapped, killed or raped by the fiercely looking armed herders.
He stressed, “To forestall break down of law and order in the community, a stakeholders meeting held at his palace some time ago where it was agreed that peace and order should reign between the herders and the host community.
“Stakeholders meeting attended by the police, SSS, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Non- indigenes, Alhaji Murkta; the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security Matters, Ogbueshi Cassidy Iloba; the Leaders of Miyety Allah in Ika South and Ika North East and the Ika south council Chairman, Hon Victor Okoh, the herders pledged to be of good conduct.
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“The engagement of the Fulani herdsmen had proved the contrary.”
The royal father maintained that he had decided to alert the relevant agencies including the Federal and Delta State Governments as the worsening insecurity could cause security breach in the community.
He, therefore, appealed to the state government, the state police command and other security agencies to quickly intervene to avert a breakdown of law and order in the agrarian community as the whereabouts of the two missing indigenes of the kingdom is still yet unknown.
