Alexander Okere, Benin
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said killer herdsmen, reportedly raping and killing women and farmers in the state,are terrorists, who fled from the military offensive in the North-East.
Obaseki, who spoke on Wednesday when he visited the families of two aged women, who were allegedly killed by herdsmen, described the incident as a threat to national security.
He explained that the killers were not ordinary herdsmen but Boko Haram fighters who fled from the war in the north-eastern states.
The deceased, identified as Christiana Ariu and Matina Omonyon, had last week been reportedly raped and killed on their farms in the Ewu community, Esan Central Local Government Area of the state.
The spokesperson for the community, Mr. Sydney Ikhajiagba, lamented that members of the community were living in fear and were afraid to go to their farms.
Obaseki, however, argued that the killers could not be the conventional cattle rearers.
“These are not just herdsmen; they are Boko Haram terrorists, but we are working hard to put an end to this,” the governor stated.
There had been several complaints from residents in many rural communities over attacks by armed men suspected to be herdsmen.
The development had prompted some of lawmakers from Edo State in the National Assembly to call on the Federal Government to step up security in the affected areas.
Also, the Ijiegbai of Ekperi, Deke Yakubu Kanoba, had, in March, raised the alarm that his subjects might not engage in farming this year over the presence of gunmen lurking in a forest within the area.
Konoba, who spoke during a meeting of the Eminent Persons Forum with the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Haliru Gwandu, alleged that those he described as terrorists were armed with AK47 rifles.
However, Obaseki promised the people of the area that the state government would deal with the menace within the next few weeks, adding that he had ordered that security be beefed up along the boundary with Kogi State.
He also assured the people that an autopsy would be conducted on the corpses of the deceased.
“Do not be scared of going to your farms. We have stepped up security in this area from Kogi State,” he added.
He was also at the Irrua Specialist Hospital in Ekpoma, where he visited one of the residents in the area, Ehimen Abuya, who was allegedly shot in the leg by security operatives during a protest against the killing of the two women.
Obaseki promised to pay the medical bills of Abuya; provide him with an artificial lower limb and give the needed assistance to integrate him into the society.
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