The Leader of the Supreme Egbesu Congress, Comrade Teimowei Ebi on Tuesday, led aggrieved women of Yenizue-Gene and Okutukutu communities in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to barricade the Melford Okilo Road, in protest against alleged rape, harassment and destruction of crops and farmlands by the Fulani herdsmen
The protesters halted vehicular movement for several hours as they laid siege on the usually busy road, by erecting canopies and chairs where they displayed their cassava tubers and plants destroyed by cows.
Speaking at the protest venue, Ebi expressed regret over the destruction of farmlands, describing it as a declaration of war by the herders.
He alleged that the political class who are said to be owners of the cattle should restrain their Fulani workers from the destruction of peoples’ livelihood
According to him, if nothing is done soon, Ijaw youths might be forced to protect the farmland of their aged mothers whose only source of livelihood is farming.
He said “we might be forced to take the laws into our hands. It seems the government is failing to protect its citizens from this nightmare.”
Ebi urged Ijaw people to start having vigilante groups to protect their farms from intruders and called on the state government to take responsibility and implement the anti -open grazing law.
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The angry women rebuffed the entreaties of the police to dismantle the blockade, insisting that the state anti -open grazing law be implemented to the letter and the offending herders brought to justice.
According to one of the protesters who pleaded to be anonymous, an elderly woman was recently raped on her farm by the herders who have taken over their forest.
She regretted that the incident is occurring in the 21st century when there is technology to address the menace
the protesters were armed with placards which bore inscriptions like: “They are raping our women, government help us,” “Govt help us remove cows from our farms,” and “They are harvesting our cassava to feed their cows”
One of the protesters, Madam Gift, a mother of three, lamented the hardship they are going through at the hands of the rampaging herders.
“Many of our people have stopped going to their farms because of the constant attacks and destruction of their farms by the herdsmen,” she said.
however, the secretary to the state government, commissioner for agriculture and the state Commissioner of Police, Alonyenu Idu, prevailed on the protesters to remove the blockade.
Addressing the protesters, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Prof. Beke Sese, explained that the state government had exhausted the peaceful approach and would resort to using force to ensure compliance to the anti-open grazing law.
Meanwhile, the state government has summoned traditional rulers, youth leaders and women leaders of impacted communities across the state to a meeting on Wednesday, to be presided over by deputy governor of the state.
