By Christopher Oji
The peopleof Ubulu-Uku, a predominantly farming community in Aniocha South LocalGovernment Area (LGA) of Delta State, have raised the alarmover herdsmen’s siege on the area and other neighbouring communities,including Onicha-Ugbo and Isele-Uku, in Aniocha North LGA.
Thepeople of Ubulu-Uku and its environs under attack from gunmen alleged to beFulani herdsmen, have cried out for urgent intervention, saying they need theprotection of the police, other security agencies and government attention ingeneral.
In thepast two weeks alone, suspected herdsmen have shot dead an illustriousson of Ubulu-Uku, Mr. ChikweOjinji, while the medical directorof Goodnews Hospital, Isele-Uku, Dr. Andrew Odozi, a native of Onicha-Ugbo, wasalso murdered by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
Dr.Odozi was killed in the line of duty while rushing to the hospital to save thelife of Mr. Meme, who was shot in the neck by herdsmen along theIsele-Uku/Ubulu-Uku Road.
Thedoctor received a distress call from his staff that Meme was rushed to thehospital in Isele-Uku for gunshot injuries. He was on his way to rescuethe injured man when he ran into a roadblock mounted by herdsmen, who wererobbing commuters unchallenged. The doctor was subsequently robbed and shot.
Dr.Odozi died on the spot and his body has since been deposited at the mortuary.Meme was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, where he is nowrecuperating. Also in the hospital was a legal practitioner who declined to benamed for personal reasons. He was abducted on Isele-Uku/Ubulu-Uku road andpaid a N1 million ransom before the herdsmen released him. The lawyer wasvisiting his hometown from Lagos when he fell into the hands of thegunmen.
He said:“I saw hell. I had a brief worth millions on Monday and I was abducted at theweekend. I was released on Wednesday after my wife paid a N1 million ransom.This is a shame. I have lived in the North and I understand a little Fulani. Myabductors were Fulani people. How can people from far North come to beabducting people in our land and we are keeping quiet?
“Canpeople from the South and East go to the northern part of the country and beabducting people, demanding ransom and killing them? This is a shame, and wemust address it and rise up against this affront or else we have beencaptured.”
Underthe current scenario, one-time peaceful and serene communities are nowunder the siege of herdsmen.
Speakingon the plight of Ubulu-Uku people, a member of the local vigilance group,EmekaChukwudi, described Ubulu-Uku as a conquered community at the mercy ofherdsmen: “That is the truth. We have been conquered by strangers who havetaken over our farmlands. This is because we are incapacitated by the policewho have disarmed us and allowed the herdsmen to move freely with sophisticatedfirearms. The herdsmen are doing well in their agenda to take over our place.Today, I am so sad that one-time strong Ubulu-Uku is suffering fromattacks by Fulani herdsmen.
“Herdsmenabducted our king about three years ago and butchered him like a commoncriminal. We are still suffering from the abominable act on our king, His RoyalHighness, Obi Akaeze Christopher Ofulue. As if that was not enough, thehoodlums, who masquerade as herdsmen, want to render us jobless. You know thatwe are predominantly farmers, that is our pride, but we are scared to go to thefarms for fear of being killed. We are surrounded by other communities such asAbu-Ugba, Ogwashi-Uku, Obior and Isele-Uku. The herdsmen have virtually takenover the border land between Ubulu-Uku and other towns and are callouslyunleashing terror on us on a daily basis.
“Recently,a woman was killed between Ubulu-Uku and Obior. She was going to Umunede Marketwhen she was waylaid by herdsmen, who butchered her and stole her motorcycle.We saw her corpse but we don’t know what they did to her before they finallykilled her. A few days after, some indigenes coming home for Christmas wererobbed. The two incidents forced people to abandon the Ubulu-Uku/Obiorroad for Isele-Uku/Ubulu-Uku road in order to access other communities.
“As itis, we are in deep trouble. The hoodlums have taken over all the bushessurrounding Ubulu-Uku, through Isele-Uku, Ogwashi-Uku, Obior, Ubulu-Unor,Onitcha-Ugbo and Abu-Ugba.
“Thereare no longer safe access roads in and out of Ubulu-Uku and there isno help in sight, as people are scared to go to the farm for fear of beingkilled. Even if one is courageous enough to go to the farm, how will the persontransport the farm produce to neighbouring markets, when the access roads havebeen taken over by killer herdsmen who unleash terror on road users? Thesebrigands are doing their nefarious business unchallenged and this is a slap onour faces. But there is no way we can challenge gunmen with machetes andstones. Our children who live outside the town are scared to visit home becauseof the killer herdsmen that have taken over our surroundings.
“Recently,Monday Ike, who was working on his farm along the Ubulu-Uku/OntichaUgbo road,was accosted by Fulani herdsmen who had kidnapped some victims and kept them inthe thick forest. The herdsmen were running out of food and water, so theyboldly approached him and ordered Ike to go to the village and bring them waterand food, at his own expense, warning that they would kidnap him from hisfarm if he spilled the beans. Ike pledged not to report what he saw to anybody.
“Heeventually reported the development to the vigilance group, who called in thepolice. The police and the vigilance group stormed the forest, rescued thevictims and arrested a herder. But a few days later, the suspect was freed bythe police.
“Recently,herdsmen blocked the Isele-Uku/Ubulu-Uku road and abducted two occupants of acar. They released the the victims after collecting N600,000. Again, anindegene of Isele-Azagba living in Ubulu-Uku, Mr. Sunday, his wife and sonwere accosted along the road. Their attackers, suspected to be herdsmen, shotthe man in the neck and abducted his wife and son. After two days in captivity,the victims were released after N1 million was paid. Theman is still battling for his life in the hospital.
“Infact, we are like the bank Automated Teller Machine (ATM) to herdsmen.They are dealing with us unchallenged and it so sad. Right now, we are livingin fear and abject poverty, because our farmers are afraid to go to farm.Commercial motorcycle operation is the only lucrative business in our town now,as farmers have abandoned their farms. And we can’t blame any farmer who hasabandoned his or her farmland. Of what use is it, after investing in your farmand working for almost one year, and herdsmen start grazing their cattle withyour labour in just one day? That is the problem. Can you imagine what wouldhappen when over 200 cows enter a farm, and when the owner of thefarm challenges the herders, they shoot him or her?
“Theworst of it all is that they rape women in the presence of their husbands andchildren and rape daughters in front of their parents and siblings. I don’twant to mention names because of the despicable nature of the act. Abominationis being witnessed in our land.
“We,members of vigilance group, are handicapped as it is today. We used to patrolour roads, but our vehicle has been grounded and the police have disarmed us,while the herdsmen are fully armed with Ak47 rifles and other sophisticatedweapons. We are only left with machetes, knives and axes. How do we useordinary cutlasses to confront herdsmen armed with AK47 and other assaultrifles? The only solution is to fall back to the police, but the police post inour community is manned by a man and a woman. There is no other policemanthere. Let government give us adequate police manpower and leave intelligencegathering for us. We have all it takes in intelligence and we will assist thepolice in fishing out the herdsmen because we know where they are, but we havebeen disarmed by government.”
Youngerbrother to slain Ojinji, Mr. Charles Ojinji, who narrated how his brotherwas killed, said: “We are still in shock over our elder brother’s sudden andunnatural death. He was a warrior who has the interest of the community atheart. I have envisaged his murder, because we all were farming on the landbefore Fulani herdsmen, who followed the high tension wire to a forestreserve, near a stream in Aniagbala, a suburb of Ubulu-Uku, took over ourfarmlands. When we saw that they were fully armed, we left our farms for them.What attracted the herdsmen there was the beautiful stream that is now a curseto us. Their cows would eat our farm produce, eat the yam tubers in ourbarns, cassava, vegetables, drink our water and mess up our stream. The streamis the only source of water in our community.
“Oneday, we challenged the herders and they beat some of us up. They held themhostage at gunpoint. Since that time, some people stopped going to the farm toavoid the wrath of herdsmen who have taken over our land. We did nothing and weowe them nothing, yet we have been subjected to all manner ofinhuman treatment. Our women are not spared.
“I wasshocked last year when my brother went back to the same captured farmland tostart faming again. Well, other people were still farming there but, one day,over 200 cows entered the farm and ate up everything. My brother wasenraged. I don’t know what transpired between him and the herders. Anyway, awitness told me that my brother was attacked with machetes and shot with a gun.My brother’s wife traveled to Lagos and there was nobody at home. When hisneighbours noticed that he did not return from the farm, they called me and wewent to the farm and saw him in a pool of blood. We rushed him tohospital but the doctor confirmed him dead on arrival.
“Theyhave killed my brother, what else can they do? Today it is my brother, whoknows the next person tomorrow? Well, herdsmen are everywhere in the bushsurrounding our community, we are under siege. The police deposited his body inthe mortuary. We want the body of our brother so that we can bury him to allowhim rest in peace.”
On hispart, the palace secretary, Joseph Obaze, the mouthpiece of His RoyalMajesty, Obi Ofulue, described the siege on Ubulu-Uku community as worrisome:“We are really under serious attack by herdsmen. We are really going throughexcruciating pains. We have just finished meeting and we are planning fora massive peaceful protest over the attacks on our people by Fulaniherdsmen. We have met heads of farm roads in the town and they all narratedtheir ordeals in the hands of herdsmen and their cattle. They told how theirfarms are being ravaged by cattle. Apart from the fruits and vegetables, theherders would go to our barns and feed their cattle with the yams. We havewritten to the police and they said they were going to discuss the issue in thesecurity meeting.
“Thereis another keg of gunpowder ready to explode. A native has just opened a cattleranch and tomatoes market in the town. We are not against him, but he hasstarted employing Fulani to take care of the ranch. Our fear is that, whereverthese herders settle, they start bringing their people to the place. We havegiven the businessman an ultimatum to leave the place because we are notcomfortable with killer Fulani people.
“Whatsurprises me is that we rear native cows in this area, yet they don’t strayinto people’s farms. Our cows don’t feed on yam and cassava but only grass.They should leave us alone, we don’t need their meat. They should not use theirbusiness to disturb ours. As they love their cows, so also do we love ourfarms.
“Manypeople are scared to go to the farms for fear of being attacked by theherdsmen. Women are being abused and the men are being killed. That is why weare crying to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and the Delta State Commissioner ofPolice, Mr. AdegokeAdeleke, to come to our rescue and save us from beingexterminated by killer herdsmen. The governor and the CP should expedite actionas we are living in fear. There is tension in the town, things have reallyfallen apart.
“It isnot as if we are cowardly but we want to explore all avenues for peace. We lovepeace but our peacefulness should not be taken as weakness. Let governmentintervene and save us from a war situation.”
Obazehas, however, appealed to Ubulu-Uku indigenes and residents to be law-abidingand conscious of the development: “Let us not abandon farm work that we areknown for. People should go to the farm in groups while those travelling shouldavoid night journey, until government is be able to solve the riddle,” he said.
Meanwhile,CP Adegoke said he was aware of the killing of the doctor, even though the casewas not reported to any police station: “I am also aware of the attack on alawyer and the killing in Ubulu-Uku. I personally led an operation to the bushand some suspects were arrested and are with me. I want to assure you that thepolice are not keeping quiet. For me to lead an operation to the bush, you mustagree that we are doing something about it,” he said.
