According to the women, who were mainly peasant elderly farmers, the herders livestock have destroyed their crops and affected their livelihoods. They marched on the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, Ezego Moses Ngele, demanding urgent action to end the alleged indiscriminate destruction of cash crops and other farm produce by herdsmen grazing their cattle in the area.
Chanting solidarity songs and brandishing green leaves, the women urged the traditional ruler to prevail on the herdsmen to stop using their cattle to destroy their crops. They also requested for immediate exit of the herdsmen from the community to save their farm lands and the people from imminent famine.
Mrs Janet Aja, a spokesperson for the women, said that they were at the palace to register their grievance over the destruction of their crops by herdsmen who allow their cattle to feed on their cash crops and other farm produce in their farms. She added that all their crops including yam, cassava and rice, among others, have been destroyed prematurely by the rampaging herdsmen.
They expressed fears that the farmers might be left with nothing to harvest. According to Mrs Aja, farmers, especially the women in the community, were at present not able to go to their farms for fear of being attacked by the herdsmen.
Mrs Aja added: “The women are in your palace to inform you that our crops and farmlands are destroyed daily by cattle rearers and that we no longer go to our farms for fear of being attacked, raped or killed. Our rice, yams, cassava and other crops in our farms have all been destroyed and eaten up by their cattle.
“We demand urgent action from you as the community father to end the indiscriminate destruction of crops and farm lands by these foreigners. We don’t want the killings and destruction we hear that happen in other communities between them and farmers to happen in our own community.”
She called on the monarch to handle the situation by providing a lasting solution to the menace otherwise the women will protest naked at Government House in Abakaliki, the state capital. Ezego Ngele commended the women for their peaceful disposition, adding that the palace would collaborate with other stakeholders and security agencies in dealing with the problem.
He expressed regret over the destruction of economic crops and assured the women that a permanent solution would be found. He further assured the women that governments at all levels were making concerted efforts to stem the security challenge and urged them to remain law-abiding and respect constituted authority.
Comments
Post a Comment