They have Installed a King in Our Forest – Fulani herdsmen to Okpanam, the suburb of Asaba, the Delta State

Fulani herdsmen are planning to attack Okpanam, the suburb of Asaba, the Delta State according to Asaba royal traditional rul­er of Okpanam, the suburb of Asaba, the Delta State capital, HRM Mbanefo Michael Ogbolu, yesterday, raised the alarm over secret plans by suspect­ed Fulani herdsmen, living in nearby communities of Umuomake village and Obo­dogwugwu farmland to un­leash surprised attack on Ok­panam residents.

In a letter to the Delta State police commissioner, Alkali Baba Usman, titled the Menace of Fulani Herds­men In Okpanam Kingdom, the traditional ruler said that because of the fear of possible attack and the nefarious ac­tivities of Fulani herdsmen rampaging the area, Okpan­am residents now sleep with only one eye closed.

His independent investigation has revealed that the area the suspect­ed Fulani herdsmen occu­py was allegedly sold by Un­uomake village to the Delta State Post Primary Educa­tion Cooperative Society and in the course of forag­ing, their cattle destroy their farmlands and wield so­phisticated weapons to har­ass harmless Okpanam res­idents.

Reasoning that the attack may be likened to that which occurred in Nimbo village in Enugu State, the Ugoani ap­pealed to the police commis­sioner to use his good office to take necessary measures to nip the likely attack in the bud.

The Ugoani, who re­called that sometime in Oc­tober 2014, he wrote a letter to the then state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and copied the state po­lice commissioner, drawing their attention to the wan­ton destruction of Okpan­am farm land and incessant attacks against Okpanam farmers and indigenes by cattle rearers of Hausa/Fu­lani extraction, explained that from time immemori­al, the main occupation of Okpanam people is farming but unfortunately, the inva­sion of cattle rearers on the farm lands has made farm­ing difficult for the people.

And as if this belliger­ent attitude is not enough, whenever our farmers ap­peal to them to shepherd their cattle in a way that they do not damage their farms, they respond with gun fire to scare away our defenceless farmers. As a matter of fact, they have installed a Seriki (king) in our forest, and all efforts to reach them with a view to ascertain how they gained access into our land have proved abortive because of the sophisticated weapons they wield.

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