Some aggrieved women in Otuasega community, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, on Monday, held a peaceful rally against what they called the incessant invasion and destruction of their farmlands by suspected herdsmen.
To drive home their point, the women fell trees and tied fresh palm frond to barricade the Otuasega end of the Edepie-Imiringi Road linking communities in Ogbia and Nembe councils to Yenagoa, the state capital.
They called for state government’s intervention in a bid to avert face off between the natives and the herders.
There was heavy traffic gridlock on the busy route leading to oil fields in the East senatorial district of the state as motorists were forced to make a detour through the Okarki-Yenigwe axis during the protest.
The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions such as, ‘Our women are not safe in the farms anymore,’ ‘Government of Bayelsa should protect our poor farmers from destruction by herdsmen,’ ‘We don’t want herdsmen and their cows in Otuasega again to avoid trouble,’ ‘Our crops and farmlands are constantly destroyed by cow,’ ‘We need government assistance; our women are longer safe.’
The women insisted that they would not dismantle the roadblock until the state government looked into their demands.
Amiena Abiogu, who led the protest, said that they converged on the road to draw government’s attention to their plights.
She said that despite the state government’s ban on open grazing, the herders continued to destroy their farmlands, stressing, “Some few weeks back, cows invaded our community (Otuasega) with their keepers, despite the state government ban on open grazing.
“They invaded the community with guns, cutlasses and brutally attacked one of our youths.
“Now in less than six weeks, they have returned. We don’t like what we are seeing in our forests; our women are constantly being harassed on our farms.
“The sight of the herdsmen and their cattle alone can make one run away. It is not enough that they are threatening our lives in the forests, they are also destroying our crops.
“That is why we are here on the road today, we cannot do it in our bedroom. Also, we don’t want our boys out because it could degenerate into violence.
“Let our governor tell us what is happening. We know there is a law banning open grazing in Bayelsa State and we want to know why the herdsmen are still trespassing and destroying our crops?”
