Abia Women Protest Farm Invasion, Sexual Harassment by Fulani Herdsmen

             

Hundreds of people, mostly women, Friday
trooped to Umuahia, the Abia State capital to
protest the invasion of their farmlands by Fulani
herdsmen, whom they accused of not only
destroying crops but sexually harassing women
who go to farms.

The protesters who came from Ahaba Imenyi in
Isuikwuato local government took their protest to
government house where they recounted their
ordeal in the hands of the herdsmen, who act
with impunity.


A community leader, Mr. Ikechukwu Orunta said
that they decided to come to the seat of
government in order to draw the attention of the
state governor to the “atrocities being committed
by the herdsmen against the people of Ahaba
Imenyi.

He said the Fulani herdsmen had taken over the
entire community with their cattle which destroy
the farms and defecate into the only source of
water supply for the community, adding that the
security agencies had not been of any help.
“We have made several attempts to stop them to
no avail and all efforts to get the security
agencies to call them to order have failed,” the
community lamented.

A woman leader in the distressed community,
Mrs. Victoria Ifeanyichukwu said that the
community had been pushed to the wall as
women had stopped going to the farms due to
the incessant sexual harassments and attempted
rape by the herdsmen.

“We can’t go to our farms for fear of being raped
by the herdsmen,” she said, adding that there
was need for government to come to their rescue
and save the community from starvation and
disease arising from pollution of their water
supply.

In his response, the state Governor, Chief
Theodore Orji frowned at the frequent reports of
untoward activities of the Fulani herdsmen in
Abia communities, saying that the hospitality of
the state should not be abused.
The Governor, who was represented by the state
commissioner for information and strategy, Chief
Anthony Agbazuere, noted with sadness, the
destruction of crops by cattle after huge
investments by government which had secured
N1 billion agriculture loan for farmers in the
state.

He urged the aggrieved people of Ahaba Imenyi
not to take the law into their hands and assured
that government would promptly wade into the
matter and resolve it in few days time.
Orji described as barbaric, attempts to rape
women who had gone to engage in farming
activities, saying that government would never
condone such acts.