Herdsmen kill farmer in Imo community
Worried by the incessant attacks by suspected herdsmen, residents of Obudi Agwa Community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State have started fleeing the community.
According to the villagers, another farmer was attacked and killed on his farm during the weekend by suspected herdsmen.
The Nation gathered that the deceased, Elder Ozoemena Iriaka, had gone to his farm in the early hours when he saw herdsmen grazing their cattle on his farm with most of his crops destroyed.
Iriaka was said to have challenged and asked them to take their cattle out of his farm.
It was further learnt that when the herders refused to listen to him, the deceased tried to chase away the cows from his farm.
This action, it was gathered, angered the herdsmen who chased and attacked him with their matchets, inflicting deep cuts on the back of his head as he tries to escape from them.
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An indigene of the community, Declan Odime Okaru, revealed Iriaka was attacked and killed by herdsmen who had challenged them for grazing their cows on his farm earlier in the day.
He lamented that the herdsmen have been in the habit of grazing their cows on the farms of the community.
According to him: “But when we got the report the youths mobilized and in the process we caught up with one of the fleeing herdsmen who we learned was handed over to the Oguta Police division because we had restrained the angry youths not to take the matter into their own hands.
“Those herdsmen have been in the habit of grazing their cows on the farms of the people of this community and when the people challenge them they will attack you”.
The Nation gathered the herdsmen came again to graze on Saturday night and some villagers chased them away.
“We got reports early Sunday morning that the herdsmen are coming in large number to attack our village . The villagers had to run away for their lives for fear of being killed”, a villager told The Nation.
The Spokesman of the Imo State Police command, Mr. Orlando Ikokwu could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.
