Farmers in Oyo state have expressed their anger over alleged incessant invasion of their farm lands in every nook and cranny of the state.
Vanguard reports that a commercial farm owner at Akoya community in Ibarapa north local government area of Oyo state, Kayode Olaitan, expressed his ordeal of cattle invasion that caused serious damage to his eight hectares maize farm, which he said, led to a loss of 40 tonnes of maize, among other costs amounting to N3 million.
The manager of Fempanath Nigeria Limited, while expressing his sadness, stated that he planted maize on a total of eight hectares of land expanse and to his surprise, cattle herders around there came to his farm and devoured all the crops, leaving them with nothing to harvest.
Narrating his ordeal, Olaitan said: “These are crops that were already developing the cubs. The cubs were already forming. There are several of them that were due for harvest in the next three or four weeks, but we have nothing left to harvest. We have invested a lot of money here.
“It cost us thousands of naira to bulldoze this land; we spent a lot of money to plough this land; we got seeds that were planted; we paid workers to plant these seeds; and we have a sprinkler irrigation system that we are using. These cost us a lot of money. “We are commercial farmers, cultivating hundreds of hectares of land.”
Olaitan said he was looking up to the police and the judiciary to adjudicate over the loss of millions of Naira to herdsmen invasion, noting the need for cattle herders to be willing to lease, purchase or rent land to ranch their cattle.
His words: “We are willing to embrace compensation. We are commercial farmers, cultivating hundreds of hectares of land.
“We also expect the cattle herders to invest and acquire land, own their own ranches where they can own and keep their own cattle, as it is done in several parts of the world. They should also be able to lease, or purchase land to ranch their cattle without incurring losses for other farmers.”
One of the leaders of Akoya community, Taiwo Moses, noted that reports of invasion of farmlands had assumed an alarming dimension and was threatening the peaceful coexistence between herdsmen and community dwellers.
According to Moses, more worrisome for residents was the seeming failure of security agents and traditional rulers to effectively call the herdsmen to order. He said the police seem to be conniving with the herdsmen leaders.
He said they want the herdsmen to stop grazing on their farmlands.
“When there is negotiation between the herdsmen and owner of destroyed farmland, offer of compensation would usually begin from N2,000 and they hardly pay N15,000.
“For the past four years, I have not received compensation above N40, 000; whenever my farmland is destroyed. To get a higher compensation, the case will have to be handled by the people in Ibadan,” Moses added.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in Oyo State, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu dismissed allegations of being on the side of the herdsmen as false, spurious and baseless.
He stressed that the police usually admonished both parties to embrace alternative dispute resolution to prevent a resort to violence, while offenders are charged to court when an amicable settlement could not be reached.
Ajisebutu said: “Allegation of supporting the herdsmen over community dwellers is false and baseless. We stand on the path of justice and fairness. Ours is to act as arbiters between the two parties, using alternative dispute resolution approach to avoid violent clashes.
“Where amicable settlement cannot be reached, cases are charged to Court. Often, it is the parties themselves that initiate out-of-court negotiation to get financial compensation but when the results fall short of their expectations, spurious allegations are made. However, no fewer than 6 cases involving farmers and herdsmen in the area have been charged to court while some are still under investigation at the state CIID, Iyaganku. The CP, Abiodun Odude, has directed the DPO Ayete as well as other DPOs to treat such cases with all seriousness and promptness.”
