Residents of Uwheru were enjoying the dry season evening breeze when this reporter arrived the community sometime in March. Mostly farmers and fishermen, they had just returned from their daily hustle and were irked by the sight of the stranger.
Their irritation is understandable. Only a few weeks earlier, at least 10 of their kinsmen had been gruesomely murdered by suspected herdsmen.
“My sister said they should come for her, instead. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five of them,” he said. “See my throat and my head. They tied me down and I could do nothing. They wanted to remove my head,” the middle-aged man said showing scars on his neck. Mr Osieta and many other victims are bitter that the police had failed to bring the murderers to justice.Similar stories abound across the 21 communities that make up Uwheru, an Urhobo kingdom in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. The communities include Orhoro, Erovie, Agadama, Urede, Egbo, Owarovwo, Ogode, Oreba, Avwon, Iwhouvbe, Iwhodja, Ode, Oguname, Owarie, Iwhegbo and Iwherhe.Several accounts traced the beginning of the clashes to 2004.
Benjamin Ohworeko is the secretary of the traditional council and spokesperson of the Odion of Uwheru Kingdom. He said the communities had made many calls for government intervention but none had stopped the cycle of mayhem. He accused the military of complicity in many of the attacks, alleging the involvement of soldiers from the nearby Bomadi Barracks on the side of the herdsmen.“If it were to be the herders alone, they don’t have the capacity to chase us from our homelands.
Two days later, some men were attacked while working on their farms in Agadama, a neighbouring village to Avwon. A witness who escaped that attack said that seven people died instantly while six others were injured and taken to Ughelli Central Hospital, Ughelli. In total, he said 10 people died from the attacks. Two in Avwon, seven in Agadama and one person during the protest. Unlike in previous attacks, recovering the bodies of victims became a problem, Mr Iniovogoma told this reporter.
The report said terror-related incidents in Nigeria increased by 37 per cent, from 411 in 2017 to 562 in 2018. Also, deaths from terrorism in the country rose to 2,040 in 2018, a 33 per cent increase. Dispute over ownership and usage of land has remained the major cause of the violent conflict between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria.PREMIUM TIMES observed that many no longer go to their farms for fear of being attacked. Some residents have relocated from the area.
Awin Ubaro, an administrative officer who spoke on behalf of the head teacher, explained that the school has been the epicentre of the unfortunate incidents. The only corps member in the school, who identified herself only as Julie, said she would leave if the crisis resurfaces. “Why we banned the cow meat in our area is that we don’t want to patronise them any longer. I believe by now, all of them are starving at the moment,” Mr Ose said.
He called on the government to provide security for the people and requested that the anti-open grazing law be enacted in the state.
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