SOME suspected herdsmen have allegedly attacked operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun in the Igoba community in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The operatives were said to have been attacked while enforcing anti-open grazing law in Akure, the state capital
The spokesperson for the Amotekun Corps in the state, Jimoh Adeniken, made this known in a statement on Saturday, July 6.
Jimoh said the officers were acting on complaints from farmers in the Igoba and Osi communities about cows’ constant destruction of their farms.
It was alleged that one of the officers, yet to be identified, was hacked by the armed herdsmen during the attack.
Adeniken explained 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 May 6, 2024 , the Amotekun corps from the headquarters in Alagbaka Akure, responded yesterday July 5, 2024, at about 1600 hours,” he said.
“During the 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 moved the cows out of the farms, and while passing by the Sango Area, at Igoba, along Ado Road in Akure, groups of armed herdsmen attacked the officers with stones, bottles, cutlasses, and guns.”
Adeniken said the officers quickly retreated to their base on the order from the command, as the attackers continued throwing stones and bottles till the Amotekun operatives escaped to the main road.
The ICIR reports that the longstanding clashes between farmers in predominantly agrarian communities and nomadic herders led to to the formation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, in 2020 by Ondo State government.
These conflicts are primarily over resources such as land and water, which are increasingly scarce due to factors like climate change and population growth.
The herders’ cattle often stray onto farmlands, destroying crops and leading to violent confrontations.
In August 2023, the security outfit announced that they arrested no fewer than 7,000 criminals across the state within the last three and half years of its creation.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.