INSECURITY: Pathetic story of Daniel Anavhe, Ogun migrant farmer constantly under the grips of armed herders

As food insecurity continues to take a toll on the country, stakeholders have continuously urged the government to tackle the herder-farmer tension which is seen as one of the major factors contributing to declining output in the agric sector.

This piece reviews the menace of rampaging herders through the eyes of a victim in the Owode axis of Ogun state.

BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI

The story of killer herdsmen that has been a pain in the neck of farmers and community dwellers in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised.

It can be agreed that this menace is not novel to the Nigerian agrarian communities; but the last decades have witnessed a dangerously high incidence of attacks by herders on the farm.

At some point, especially during the last administration headed by General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), Nigerians were merely linking this development to the rise in insecurity and people taking up arms against the state, as then rampant in some core Northern states of the federation.

At another point, socio-political watchers came up with the narrative that some suspected Fulani irredentists were out to take over ancestral lands of aborigines of some communities, particularly in the Northern region.

But at the moment, when, according to some analysts, we are reaping the gains of government’s alleged complacency during the eight-year leadership of Buhari!

During that period (even as it still continues now), destructive and killer herdsmen were reportedly considered untouchables. Thus, a very good number of farmers fled the farmlands and villages.

Then, later, Nigerians’ eyes started getting opened, as the rampaging herdsmen gradually spread into other areas like the South-East and South-West, regions where arable farming also takes centrestage.

Coming home, the case of Mr. Daniel Anavhe, a migrant farmer in Owode area of Ogun State, comes instructive. Recently, Anavhe raised the alarm over alleged attack on his farm for the umpteenth time. He has severally been a victim, losing family member, worker and resources in each case. This time, he says his life is on the line.

It is instructive that the case of Mr. Anavhe is not isolated on the South-West; the recurring attacks on farmers and their farms in the region of the country by these notorious herdsmen has been happening repeatedly in areas like Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa of Oyo State, among others. There have also been similar reports in areas like Kwara, Niger and Kogi states in the North-Central, among others.

But the development reared its ugly head again in Owode, Ogun state when they visited Daniel Anavhe’s farm for a second time. The herdsmen destroyed his farm and killed one of his workers.

According to the distraught farmer, their first visit was in April this year, when they ravaged his expansive farm and kidnapped his son, Okhai Anavhe.

He said the herdsmen collected ransom before the release of their kidnapped victim.

“This menace of kidnapping and violence is becoming more alarming on a daily basis in Nigeria.

“Government appears to be helpless and people live in fear and anguish,” Anavhe lamented.

Speaking with journalists on the aftermath of the attack, Anavhe, who lost one of his workers in the latest attack, said he was highly devastated.

“My farm was overrun by these suspected Fulani herdsmen and in the process, one of my farm workers was killed. This is a second time my farm would be attacked by these notorious herdsmen.

“During the first attack, my son was kidnapped and I had to pay huge ransom before he was released.

“I have been having heated battles with these Fulani herdsmen who always brought down the fence of my farmland and forcefully bring in their cows to graze there,” Anavhe said.

Anavhe, who said he then had to flee the farm, following threats to his life by the herdsmen, stated further that the latest attack happened only a week ago, when the hoodlums set his farm ablaze and severely injured the security guards on the farm.

He said he started the farm about three years ago and that he was already trying to recoup his investment before the herdsmen attacked his farm.

He lamented that through this action of the herders, many of his customers, he claimed witnessed the first attack and managed to escape with their lives, were no longer interested in coming back for business on the same farm.

Anavhe added that he had to involve the security agencies, especially the police; a development he said led to the arrest of some of the suspects.

“The last petition I wrote, when they encroached into my land again, led to the arrest of some of the herdsmen.

“Then, learning about the arrests by the police, youths of my area decided to celebrate the development. Somehow, in the process, some of the herdsmen’s cows got missing. This development later aggravated the situation,” he explained.

The embattled farmer said with the arrest of the suspected herdsmen and the turn of events, members of the herders’ group have resorted to threats of taking his life anywhere they could find him; hence his decision to run for his dear life.

Anavhe pleaded with both the federal and state governments to address the menace of herdsmen attacks on farms across the country, adding that it was worrisome that recurring attacks by the suspected Fulani herdsmen had claimed many lives, “mostly of farmers; and governments seem helpless.”

With the recent news that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the creation of a Ministry of Livestock, will the interest of the Anavhes of this world be taken care of? This is a question for time itself.

QUOTE 1

My farm was overrun by these suspected Fulani herdsmen and in the process, one of my farm workers was killed. This is a second time my farm would be attacked by these notorious herdsmen.

QUOTE 2

Anavhe pleaded with both the federal and state governments to address the menace of herdsmen attacks on farms across the country.