Cassava farm worth over half a million naira belonging an Abia-based journalist has been ravaged by cows in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
The said farm belonging to Abia State Correspondent of Authority Newspapers, Steve Oko, is located at Power Word Estate, Olokoro in Umuahia South Local Government Area of the state.
According to Oko, the said cassava farm is worth over N463,000.
While spoke with his colleagues in Umuahia, Oko who appeared devastated, said he was still in shock over the incident.
“The entire farmland now looks like a football field,” he lamented.
He said he decided to embrace farming early this year as part of strategies to survive the biting economic hardship in the country and also to enhance his economic base.
According to him, he had planned to embark on some capital projects with proceeds from the sale of the crops by next year, but such hope appeared dashed.
He said: “Early this year when it became obvious that I could no longer depend on irregular salary for my ever-increasing financial needs, I decided to suppress my ego and go into farming.
“Part of the reasons I also embraced farming was because the cost of garri was almost unaffordable by the beginning of this year, thus making cassava farming a very lucrative venture.
“Apart from my heavy investments in the farm, I was personally involved in the farming activities. I was drenched by the June/July rains while working in the farm. My motivation was the promising bumper harvest of a blossoming farm.
“But my hope is now gone and my dream shattered. My calculation was to embark on one major project very dear to me by 2018 with proceeds from the farm. Cows have turned the farmland into a grazing field. ”
Oko disclosed that he had already petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Abia State, Anthony Ogbizi who also doubles as the State Chairman of Farmers/Herdsmen Conflict Resolution Committee.
He noted that other farmlands around the vicinity were also destroyed by cows on rampage at the estate.
The journalist demanded that the owners of the cows and their callous herdsmen be made to bear the full responsibility of their action.
“It is hard to reconcile that in a democratic government, security agencies will watch herdsmen use their flock which is their private business to inflict losses on other farmers.
“It is unacceptable. That is why some people agitate for their own country so that they can defend their people against external aggression. We are truly under siege by herdsmen who now destroy our crops with impunity.
“When we complain they say we should not take laws into our hand. How long shall we continue to live in bondage under the guise of one Nigeria? Can you imagine an Igbo man using his flock to destroy crops in Sokoto or Kano? I tell you his kinsmen in the entire North will be made to suffer the consequences of his action,” he lamented.
The distraught journalist therefore, appealed to the security agencies to compel herdsmen to rein in their flock and stop further destruction of farmlands in the state.
UDOKA AGWU, UMUAHIA
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
