Residents of Ketu-speaking villages in Ogun State have cried out to the State Governor over the molestation they receive from soldiers who escort herdsmen to their bushes.
One of the victims, Seye Mulero who escaped the assault narrated his ordeal to his kinsmen showing off the marks of the wire strokes he received from the hands of the solders.
The Nation Newspaper reports that Mulero had confronted the soldiers numbering about 10.
He demanded to know their reason for killing and attacking his kinsmen who had previously protested the destruction on their farms.
The herdsmen had initially quit the village after the villagers continuously protested their presence but soon retuned at about 2:00pm on the 19th of December 2020 with some soldiers from the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta.
On arrival, the soldiers visited the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, Chief Olaleye Adigun.
They called out the villagers and warned them against preventing the herdsmen from returning to their communities. They also warned that the herders must not be challenged when grazing on their fields.
At that point, Seye Mulero insisted that the herders would not be allowed to remain in the community because of the brutal killing of residents and the destruction of their farmlands.
He added that “Everyone was frightened by the action and utterances of the soldiers but I summoned courage to tell them how a Geography teacher, Mr Yomi Akinola and two students of the Community High School, Ibeku among others were killed by the herdsmen while our women were raped and killed on their way to the farm.”
Mulero’s utterances got the ire of the herders who ordered the soldiers to deal with him.
The soldiers then seized him, kicking flogging and leaving him seriously injured.
According to Mulero, “Before I knew it, the herdsmen had motioned the soldiers who immediately pulled me out of the audience and flogged me mercilessly with a wire whip. It was as if I stole something.
“As I speak, my body still aches because of the wounds even after I had been treated in a hospital.
“Numerous other villagers were subjected to the brutal act as the soldiers escorted the herdsmen from one village to another all in a bid to intimidate us into allowing them to graze on our farms.”
2 thoughts on “Soldiers Escort Herdsmen to Ogun Community Farms, Flog Villagers”
Comments are closed.