Herdsmen and Amotekun Clash in Ondo

Herdsmen have injured persons including, operatives of the Ondo State Security Network in Akure North local government area.

The attack took place while Amotekun personnel were trying to enforce the anti-open grazing law in at Igoba, along Ado Road.

They were moving away cows grazing on a farm when armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the officers with stones, bottles, cutlasses, and guns.

Spokesman for the Ondo Amotekun Corps, Jimoh Adeniken, in a statement said the corps surveillance team was led to the farms by the owners where they met over one hundred and twenty cows ravaging the farms but no herder was seen with the cows.

Adeniken said the Amotekun operatives moved the cows out of the farms but were attacked by herdsmen.

According to him: “The assailants continued to throw stones and bottles till they invaded the main road and hacked one of the Amotekun officers to coma even as they attempted to disarm officers and men of the Amotekun corps.

“Other officers sustained varying degrees of injuries during the attack and they are currently receiving medical attention.

“Owner of the cows has been identified while investigation continues by the corps.

‘Government will continue to ensure strict compliance of the law with a view to ensuring, that efforts of farmers would not be truncated through destruction of their farmlands by herders and their cows.

Officers of the Corps will however, continue to carry out its legal functions of protecting people of the state as well as their properties.”