The Gbo Kabaari Ogoni, the Ogoni Elders Forum has cried out and sent a save our soul (SOS) message to relevant authorities for urgent intervention in what they alleged as orchestrated plot to destroy their lives and means of livelihood by Fulani herdsmen.
In a statement issued and titled ‘Before We Are Killed Again’, signed by the Forum Chairman, Chief Monday Abueh and Secretary, Desmond Nbete alleged massive enchroadment on farmlands in some Ogoni communities by armed herdsmen particularly in Baa Luekun, Kpaa, Dae, Serne Luekun and Eteo in Eleme Local Government Area.
According to the statement, the armed herdsmen have been brazenly grazing their cows on cultivated crops and have turned deaf ears to all entreaties by the leaders of the concerned communities to disengage from the wanton act.
Rather than heed the pleas to vacate the farmlands, the herdsmen keep boasting of having the backing of the authorities and security agencies, the statement further alleged.
The Ogoni Elders Forum is worried because this, according to them, does not only smack of threat to public peace and security in Ogoni but also undermines the very existence of a sizeable population of Ogoni people if it is not nipped in the bud.
“We are particularly concerned by the fact that when resisted and confronted by our leaders and representatives, they (herdsmen) had threatened mayhem and even boasted that the powers that be, and the security agencies are aware of their presence and would decisively deal with our people if further confronted,” the Ogoni Elders claimed.
The Elders recalled having raised alarm earlier when scores of soldiers were being drafted into Ogoni by HYPREP under the pretext of providing security for the Ogoni clean-up and remediation project.
The renewed outcry to the world, the Ogoni Elders explained, has become necessary because Ogoni people cannot afford to be victims of another progrom, stressing that their people had been massively and mercilessly killed in similar circumstances in the recent past and do not want a repeat of the senseless act.
“Our people mainly depend on subsistence farming as their source of livelihood and sustenance which has been grossly devastated by oil exploration and environmental degradation, and do not want any addition to this menace and sordid side of our existence.
We therefore request that the government should protect our lives and property even as we demand the immediate evacuation of these herdsmen and their cows from our farmlands.
The lives and livelihood of our people cannot and must not be sacrificed for cows”, the Ogoni Elders pleaded.
