BEKWARRA (CONVERSEER) – Farmers in Cross River State are crying over the alleged taking over of farmlands by herdsmen, which may trigger food scarcity by year’s end.
Apart from the food scarcity, the citizens of the states also fear for their lives following what is happening in Benue, Plateau and other states.
These and other issues have led citizens to take to the streets to protest the invasion of these herders in their community.
At the weekend, several farmers and community members staged a peaceful protest in Utugbor, Abuana, and Akpakpa communities in Bekwarra Local Government Area of the state over the same issue.
In their numbers, the aggrieved farmers and community members demanded an end to open grazing, which is posing a threat to their farmlands and livelihood.
“We can’t die of hunger for cows to survive,” the peaceful demonstrators chanted in their black attire and leaves on their hands.
They accused local and state governments of keeping quiet on the herders’ invasion despite sounding the alarm on several occasions.
The residents who are also seeing what is happening in other states called on the governments to end the herder-farmer clash to avoid loss of lives and properties.
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In April, an indigene of Bekwarra, Inah Adie, raised an alarm over the influx of Fulani herdsmen in the area.
“A few years ago, I farmed cassava in Ukpada Village in Bekwarra Local Government, and it was destroyed by armed Fulani herdsmen,” Adie decried in a social media post.
“When I made the post here, some people, including a sitting councillor of that ward, laughed at me.
“Not long after that, the Paramount Ruler’s Son was beaten to pulp by Fulani herdsmen in that same community.
“Nothing was done because those Fulanis have the contacts of Generals and powerful people sitting in high places,” he alleged.
Noting further, Adie said, “It should be a thing of concern because Cross River State shares boundary with Benue State in the Northern District and Benue is currently the epicentre of armed herdsmen invasion.”
Converseer reported last month that herders were seen openly grazing in Calabar, the state’s capital, causing panic within the nerve centre.
