HOW did herdsmen become so powerful to
the point of tyrannizing some communities in
Delta State?
This is one question many leaders of affected
communities could not answer when our reporter
proved in the course of our investigation, last
week, into the menace of herdsmen in the state.
The herdsmen are believed to be so influential
that many police officers in the state see them as
untouchable. The authorities were said to have
transferred a Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in
Delta, who led an operation to eject them from a
community in Ethiope East local government area
of the state.
A police officer, who preferred anonymity, told our
reporter: “There are powerful individuals
providing cover for them, which explain why even
if a policeman arrests a herdsman for any offence
in the state, there is a way they do the case, it
will not see the light of the day, which is the
much I can tell you.”
In many communities in Delta, the dread of the
herdsmen is the beginning of wisdom. However, it
was found out that in some cases, community
and youth leaders were the ones who
compromised the security of their people by
leasing their lands to the herdsmen without
knowing the implication of their action.
The herdsmen you see leading cattle are the lords
unto themselves; they have sponsors who armed
them to rape, steal and murder villagers, using
the land leased from the people or forcefully
acquired as launching pads.
Elder statesman and South-South leader, Prof B.
I. C, Ijomah who served for more than three years
as a member of the Nomadic Commission,
Kaduna, set up by the Federal Government to
assist herdsmen on how to go about their
business, said they have an expansionist agenda.
Efforts to check the herdsmen’s excesses in the
past had been met with some villagers losing
their lives, while others, including the lawmaker
representing Ethiope Constituency in Delta State,
Hon Evance Ivwurie, who mobilized security
agents to chase them from their hideout in the
area, came under threat.
Ivwurie took the police to the ‘Sambisa forest’ of
Abraka, an area in Delta which herdsmen have
taken over, built hamlets and tunnels to escape
arrest. It was learnt that when the police team
got to the place, the herdsmen disappeared into
the tunnel and the law enforcement agents could
not risk following inside.


Sacked communities
In Uwheru, a community in Ughelli North local
government area, where herdsmen seem to have
taken over state and terrorize residents, they had
sent about 31 persons early to their graves in the
past 12 years, while 10 villagers are missing.
President- General of Uwheru community, Chief
Ogarivi Utso, who spoke on the alleged killings,
last Thursday, at the burial of one of the victims,
lamented that herdsmen attack both men and
women, rape and kill villagers. Some herdsmen
reportedly killed an indigene of Oguname
community a week after her marriage.
On alleged imposition of tax, Utso cited the case
of the chair of Oguname village, Chief Edward
Eyamu, who, he claimed, was forced to pay N10,
000 weekly to a Fulani overlord he simply
identified as Garba.
He said another indigene of the community, Chief
Paul Ovieba, was compelled to pay N70, 000 to
herdsmen before they allowed him to commence
fishing activity at the Owarien River.
Describing the herdsmen as lords unto
themselves, Utso said: “The outrageous tax
ranges from N10, 000 to N100, 000 per
individual depending on the terms and condition.
“Presently, there is not a single indigene residing
at Port Avwo, Akabanisi and Oguname as these
herdsmen have taken over the communities after
chasing away the residents,”he added.
Speaking on how the herdsmen acquired the
lands and became so commanding, the Public
Relations Officer of Uwheru Community
Development Associaiton, UCDA , Prosper Adade,
said: “You wake up and go to your farm as a
farmer only for you to see these herdsmen there.
“There is no agreement between the community
and these herdsmen and nobody gave the land to
them.
“The problem actually arises when land owners
upon discovering that their land has been
acquired and is being occupied by these
herdsmen, ask them to leave, this confrontation is
what leads to attacks.
“If we come to a round table today, I can vow
that they (herdsmen) cannot point to a person
with whom they had an agreement over the
seizure of our land. If other communities entered
into such pact, there is none of us here in
Uwheru.”


Some chiefs collected bribe- Ossai,
community leader
Speaking of the cat and mouse relationship
between his community and herdsmen, Mr Joe
Ossai, a leader in Onicha-Ukwuani, in Ndokwa
West local government area, said, “What
happened in our case is that we were told that
some chiefs collected money from the herdsmen
without telling the community.
“When the people saw that they were destroying
their crops, some boys mobilised and asked them
to leave the community and that is how they
(herdsmen) opened fire on our people. That was
what led to the closure of the road to the
community for a very long time.
“Later, it was found out that some chiefs
collected money from them. The herdsmen are
still in the bush and, as we speak, they still come
to our community to threaten our people.”
Okpanam residents sleep with one eye
closed-Monarch
The traditional ruler of Okpanam in Oshimili North
local government area, HRM Mbanefo Michael
Ogbolu, raised the alarm about the activities of
herdsmen in his domain about a week after he
wrote a petition, dated April 28, 2016, to Delta
State Commissioner of Police, Alkali Baba Usman,
alerting of a plan by herdsmen to seize the
community’s land.
He said the herdsmen were stationed at nearby
Umuokake village and Obodogwugwu farmland
from where they planned to invade.
In the petition entitled, “Menace of Fulani
Herdsmen In Okpanam Kingdom,” the traditional
ruler said because of the fear of possible attack
and the herdsmen on the rampage in the area,
Okpanam residents now sleep with only one eye
closed.
He said that very “worrisome and nauseating is
the fact that the said cattle rearers have illegally
acquired our land around Ala-Obi, between Iyi
Uku stream and Aja-Obi on Umuomake village,
Obodogwugwu Quarters, Okpanam and they have
set up a permanent settlement in the area
without authorization.”
Describing the herdsmen’s activities as
colonization of part of Okpanam land, the Ugoani
said they destroy traps and steal animals caught
by the traps, destroy crops, molest and rape
female farmers in the area.“

Parallel government
“As a matter of fact, they have installed a Seriki
(king) in our forest, and all efforts to reach them
with a view to ascertaining how they gained
access into our land have proved abortive
because of the sophisticated weapons they
wield,” he said.“He explained that the occupation
of Okpanam land by the cattle rearers was similar
to the activities of Boko Haram in the North
which, according to him, government and
security agencies must stop.
The monarch said that investigation revealed that
Unuomake village in Okpanam sold the land the
herdsmen occupy to the Delta State Post Primary
Education Cooperative Society, saying the
herdsmen’s cows destroy their farmlands while
the cattle rearers wield sophisticated weapons to
harass residents.
He recalled that in October 2014, he wrote a
letter to former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan,
drawing attention to the wanton destruction of
Okpanam farmland and attacks against farmers.
Herdsmen fight back
A source, however, said the herdsmen acquired
the land from the community, years ago, for
grazing, but when the people refused to allow
them access to the land, they decided to fight.
The herdsmen, according to the source, wrote a
letter to the Okpanam monarch, notifying him of
their preparedness to assume ownership of the
land at all costs, a situation that drove fear into
the residents.


They infringe on our land from Edo —
Uwabuofu
Youth President of Obiaruku community in
Ukwuani local government area, Comrade Chika
Uwabuofu, denied there was an agreement with
herdsmen to graze their cattle in the community,
saying, “but they infringe on our land, destroy
our crops and harass our people on their
farmlands.” His words: “They have a settlement at
Urhonigbe community in Orhiomwon local
government area of Edo State which shares a
common boundary with us, and from there, they
move into our community. Their coming is on a
seasonal basis. During the rainy season, they stay
in their settlement but in the dry season they
come to our community. We do not have any
relationship with them, they do not know us and
we do not know them.” Mr Ken Osademe, the
councillor representing Ushie Ward 10 in Ndokwa
East local government legislative arm, however,
told our reporter: “The relationship between us
Mr Ken Osademe, the councillor representing
Ushie Ward 10 in Ndokwa East local government
legislative arm, however, told our reporter: “The
relationship between us and the herdsmen has
been peaceful. We have not been having
problems with them. That does not mean,
occasionally, people will not come to report that
herdsmen have infringed on their farmland.”


Communities losing patience with herdsmen-
Okowa
On May 30, in Asaba, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa
convened a stakeholders meeting to address the
pain in the neck. The stakeholders frowned at the
fact that herdsmen carry weapons to attack with
security agencies doing little to stop them.
At the forum, held under the theme: “Fostering
Peaceful Co-existence Between Farmers, Host
Communities and Herdsmen in Delta State”, were
representatives of traditional rulers’ council,
communities, farmers, local government council
chairmen, Cattle Dealers Association and Cattle
Breeders Association.
Also in attendance were representatives of the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Muslim
leaders, civil society organizations, Army, Police,
Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and
Nigeria Imigration Service.
Declaring the meeting open, Okowa urged
participants to speak freely about the way out of
the quagmire to ensure a peaceful state.
How we are managing the crisis- CP
The state Commissioner of Police, Usman, in his
speech at the meeting, called for tolerance,
cooperation, mutual respect and peaceful co-
existence among groups in the case and the
communities.
At the meeting, it was resolved that security
agents should be proactive and arrest anybody
caught with AK 47 rifle while they should be more
vigilant at the Ohoro-Bomadi Road to ensure that
farmers and villagers are not attacked by
herdsmen