A 75-year-old man, Pa Adesoye Oguntayo, has escaped death in an attack on him in the farm by herdsmen at Oke Ako in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
Oguntayo, who escaped with machete injuries to his head in the attack on him on Monday, has since been receiving treatment in a hospital in the local government area.
The septuagenarian, who said nothing warranted the attack on him, said, “I did not do anything to provoke them (the herders) or warrant the attack. Naturally, whenever I see Fulani herdsmen, I try to play with them because I can speak their language to some extent.”
Speaking on how the attack happened, Oguntayo said, “I was in the farm where I was picking cashew nuts. The Fulani herdsmen numbering about five were passing by with their cattle, I greeted the herdsmen, but none of them answered.
“In the process, one of them started beating me with the pastoral stick. When the stick broke, he drew his machete and started hitting it on my head and inflicted deep injuries on my head.”
The victim’s son, Bamikole, lamented that “Fulani herdsmen have driven our people away from the farms, nobody goes there for farming activities again, what you see people do there now is to pick cashew, that was why my dad was there to pick cashew.
“Baba (Oguntayo) came home drenched in blood from head to toe following which we rushed him to hospital.
“The activities of the herders in the aspect of attack on the residents are disturbing and dreadful. Apart from their evil in the farms, there were even occasions they came to town to unleash terror on the people.”
The Youth Leader, Oke Ako Community, Samuel Babatunde, who lamented the attack and the siege that the herders had laid on the community, appealed to the government to beef up security in the area.
Babatunde said, “We urge the government to appeal to the leadership of the Fulani herders to call the cattle rearers to order so that there can be peace and security in our area and as well for our people to return to the farms to boost our economy.
“We appeal to the government to let them know that they should leave the farms for the farmers to grow their crops. None of us kills their cows or attacks them because they are fully armed. A cattle rearer that carries machetes and guns has an ulterior motive.
“We plead with the government to talk to the herders’ leadership and as well beef up security in this area. In the entire Ikole Local Government, it is only Ikole Ekiti and Ijesa Isu Ekiti that have police presence. All other communities that make up the local government do not have any police presence. We are not secured,” he said.
Also speaking, the spokesperson, Ekamefa Communities, comprising the six towns in the area, Abayomi Oluwafemi, said, “It is the same thing we have been appealing to the government for. The promises of the government to secure our people have not been fulfilled.
“These attacks are on a daily basis. Many more are happening in this bush. We are talking about the case of Pa Oguntayo because he was inflicted with machete injury.”
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