Ondo community decries herdsmen invasion, police harassment over cows’ death
The people of Ifon, in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State have decried the high rate of criminality by those masquerading as herdsmen in the community.
The activities of bandits in the area resulted in the killing of the monarch of the community, Oba Israel Adeusi, last year.
Speaking on Thursday, the President, Ifon Development Union, Chief Olufemi Awani, appealed to the president, Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector-General of Police and the State Commissioner of Police to intervene in the matter, adding that the town was under siege from herdsmen, who seemed to be taking advantage of the monarch’s death.
Awani said, “The menace of herders and bandits masquerading as herdsmen has been on the increase and our community, being largely agrarian, has been at the receiving end. The herders, as if the death of the monarch was an invitation to them, have invaded our farmlands and are having a field day.
“A few weeks back, farmers at Odogboro and Ugboke in Ifon were sent out of their farms when armed herders invaded their farms with their cows. All these have been going on unhindered and without question or check, at least, none of these dangerous herders have been brought to justice’.
Awani also accused the police of harassing the leaders of the community over the death of cows owned by one of the herders in the area.
He explained, “One Abdullahi went to the Ifon police station, that our people killed his cows on January 6, 2021. This necessitated the DPO inviting some of our community leaders for questioning. Those invited denied killing the cows and confirmed to the DPO that the area of the reported incident was not on Ifon land. The matter was laid to rest.
“Unknown to our people, the matter did not end there. It was a matter of great surprise that barely one month after February 4, 2021, the same leaders were again invited to the Ifon police station by the DPO. On getting there, two men in mufti were introduced to them as police officers from the office of the Inspector-General of Police, FIB Tactical Command Squad, Force Headquarters, SARS Building, Abuja.
The policemen from Abuja told our community leaders that one Alhaji Usman, who is unknown to our people, petitioned the police authority in Abuja, which necessitated their coming for a peaceful resolution and invited them to Abuja.
“The policemen from Abuja, then brought our a pro forma of an already signed letter-invitation, which was there and then addressed to each of the invited leaders.
