Herdsmen Unleash Terror In Ondo, Hack Two Farmers To Death

By Ayodele Oni

For the second time this week, a farmer has been hacked to death by suspected rogue Fulani herdsmen in Akoko area of Ondo State.

First incident happened on Sunday at Uba oka in Akoko south west local government area of ondo when a 36 year old farmer was killed in his farm by men suspected to be herdsmen.

The deceased farmer, Sunday Ayeni’s farm was vandalized by herdsmen last week while security agents and elders in the community intervened and restored peace as herdsmen paid an undisclosed amount to the late farmer as compesation.

The  herdsmen were said not to be satisfied with the judgment hence the reprisal attack on the farmer.

The deceased went to his farm with dog as usual on Sunday but he didn’t come to time and this led to a search party that discovered his lifeless body in pool of his blood with his and cutlass beside him.

Women in the area had on Tuesday embarked on peaceful protest, half naked to condemn activities of herdsmen in the area.

However again on Tuesday at Ifira Akoko, Akoko South-East Local Government Area, 18 -year-old Joshua Gbolahan from Odoro Quarters, Ifira, met a gruesome end at his farm in Ogudu Farm Settlement.

His lifeless body was discovered after he was allegedly macheted to death by unknown assailants suspected to be herdsmen.

Eyewitnesses report that Gbolahan’s body was later recovered by the police at Isua Akoko and transferred to the morgue at Ipe Akoko General Hospital.

As of the time of filing this report, a joint team of police officers and Amotekun operatives were still scouring the surrounding forest in search of the killers.

The community has been left reeling, with farmers fearing for their lives as they confront the persistent threat of herdsmen attacks.

Traditional rulers and community leaders in the area have convened emergency meetings to address the escalating violence.

The Owa of Ogbagi Akoko, His Royal Majesty, Oba Victor Adetona Olasehinde, who also chairs the Akoko Divisional Council of Obas, has decried the killings as “callous, wicked, and unacceptable.”

He lamented that the unchecked activities of the herdsmen are driving farmers away from their fields, jeopardizing the region’s status as a critical food basket for the state.