Some residents of Port-Avwon, a village in the Uwheru Kingdom in the North Ughelli Local Council of Delta State, yesterday fled the community when suspected herders attacked them on farmland, allegedly raping their women and destroying their crops.
Following the invasion of the community by the suspected herders, tension and confusion engulfed the area, forcing them to flee to neighboring communities for shelter.
Newslodge, however, has learned that a suspected herdsman was detained by indigenous people in a bush in the area and handed over to police in Ughelli A Division.
The kingdom’s President-General, Chief Macpherson Egbedi, told reporters the suspect and other fleeing herders were found destroying their farmland last Thursday.
He said: “If you remember when they came last year, they killed 10 people and gave them a mass burial; everyone was aware of it. Even the state government was aware and said they would not return.
“This time they have come and they have started again in the same way, destroying our crops, killing people and raping women in the mountains.
“We want the government to come to our rescue because there is nothing we can do. They came with their weapons and mercenaries. There is nothing we can do. We can’t fight; we have no power to fight them.
“Even the one we caught, we brought him as evidence so that the government knows that they are already in the bush trying to follow the same path of destroying crops and killing our people.
“We caught this one with the effort of the whole community and at any moment they will dominate everyone and the same destruction and starvation will ensue. There’s no food; all the women will stop going to the farm. We want the government to come to our aid.
“When they came on Thursday, they came with more than 30,000 cows and you can imagine when 30,000 cows pass through your fields. You will know what they have destroyed.
“We have notified the government about it. Ughelli’s A Division DPO is aware. The commander of the Ughelli area knows that the Fulani herdsmen have entered our forest again.
In addition, the secretary of the Uwheru Traditional Council, Chief Benjamin Ohworeko, said: “The Fulani herdsman issue is an annual ritual. They come annually and they are here once again.”
When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Bright Edafe, denied any knowledge that the police were holding any Fulani herdsmen.
“The community reported that they had problems with some pastors. During the altercation, the Fulani people ran away abandoning a child, and the child was taken to the police station. But on interrogation it was found out that it was not Fulani but Ijaw,” he said.