Tension is brewing in Oshiri community, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, following the theft of five cows belonging to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chief Odefa Obasi, by suspected herdsmen.
This was disclosed yesterday by the Commander of State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), SP Abdulkadir Yahaya, during a security meeting convened by the state government at Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki.
According to Yahaya, the incident has caused tension between the youths of Oshiri, where the crime occurred and the Fulani in the area. He said the incident occurred in the midnight of August 11, 2017, when the suspected herdsmen broke into Odefa’s house.
Said he: “The recent Fulani herdsmen/natives problem, which poses great security challenge, is in Oshiri, Onicha Local Government Area of the state. 0n the 11th of this month, five cows belonging to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly went missing. Nobody knows whether it was the herdsmen that stole them, but it is suspected that herdsmen stole them.
“They came with a vehicle, broke the Deputy Speaker’s fence and carted away five cows in the night. The issue is causing tension between the youths and the Fulani residents because the youths are insisting that it Fulani herdsmen resident in the area perpetrated the crime.”
They are insisting that the herdsmen either produce who perpetrated the crime, pay or move out of their community. We have to be proactive because this type of minor problem could escalate to major problem.”
Yahaya said in Afikpo North and Okposi community, in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state, tension was also high, following problems between the herdsmen and farmers over alleged destruction of farm crops and missing of cows.
Governor Umahi, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, said the state would soon enact a law to prohibit under-aged persons from cattle rearing and checkmate overstocking of cattle in the state in order to address the herdsmen’s menace in the area.