ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Some farmers along the Tombia-Amassoma Road in Okutukutu, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have cried out over the destruction of their farmlands by cattle.
At the moment, they are counting their losses following the alleged invasion of their farms by herd of cattle tended by suspected Fulani herders.
The aggrieved farmers have, therefore, called on the state government to urgently intervene to forestall an impending conflict between them and herders in the state.
They urged Governor Douye Diri administration to properly enforce the anti-open grazing law already existing in the state to protect the farmers against the herders and their cattle.
Recall that the Bayelsa State Livestock Breeding and Marketing Regulation Bill 2021 became a law on March 10, 2021 after Diri assented to it.
The law prohibits open grazing in the state and confined herders and cattle owners to a space at the popular Bayelsa Palm Road in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Consequently, the state government set up an anti-open grazing task force to enforce the law.
However, herders were still seen breeding their cattle outside areas allocated to them, hence, leading to confrontation with farmers.
Lamenting the destruction of her farm by the herds of cattle, an elderly woman of about 75 years, Mr. Patience Obein, said she lost all her cassava farm to cows.
“I am an old woman. I lost all my cassava farm to the cows. The situation is not funny at all. How am I going to survive this loss?”
Also, a widow, Mrs. Martha JohnPerry, while expressing her frustration, said her only source of livelihood was the farm that had now been destroyed by the cattle.
She called on the state government to come to her aid, saying that the destruction of her farmland was beyond what she could bear.
Another farmer, Mr. Bernard England, urged the anti opening grazing enforcement task force in the state to wake up to its duties to forestall incessant destruction of their farms.
A couple, Mr. George Bouye and Mrs. Success Bouye, narrated how they approached vigilante group in the area and confronted the herders after finding out the level of destruction in their farms.
They said the cattle had repeatedly invaded their farms, mostly at the hours of 11pm and 1am.