Obelle: Motorcycle Rider Killed As Farmers Lament Destruction of Crops
A 35-year-old man, Emeka Joe, has been killed at Obelle in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. The event occurred on Friday, December 2, 2022.
Sources in the community alleged that two unidentified men dressed like herders hired the late motorcycle rider to take them to Elele on the evening of his death.
The aggrieved sources explained that when the rider did not return home that night, his wife raised the alarm and his fellow motorcycle riders searched the route and discovered his corpse in a nearby bush while the motorcycle was taken away.
The deceased, whose father died some years ago, had a wife, three children, and an aged mother who depended on him for their livelihood. He has been buried.
In the meantime, farmers in Obelle have lamented imminent hunger in the area because of the damage done to their farms by rampaging herds of cattle.
A cross-section of the farmers grieved that the farms they cultivated before crisis ravaged the community early this year have been destroyed by cows.
They complained that the herders have at different times threatened to attack them whenever they protested against the damage to their crops.
Petitions to the authorities at the Elele military cantonment where a majority of the herders are alleged to come from appear to be handled with levity.
The destruction of farmlands and the boldness of the herders to ask the farmers if their cows will not eat is discomforting and could lead to self-help.
Besides the high cost of cultivating farms resulting from the shortage of labourers in the community because of the crisis, the fear of herdsmen attacks will worsen the food crisis in the area if there is no commitment to end the herders’ cruelty.Read Full Article
Tunde Uchebuo
