By Raymond Gukas,Jos
A peasant farmer from Vwak hamlet in Jol community of Riyom Local Government Area, Plateau State, Datiri Danladi has cried out over alleged destruction to his maize farm by suspected fulani herdsmen.
Already, inhabitants of the entire area are in panic as the alleged invaders continue to trample on crops in the fields even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown the state was witnessing.
National Coordinator of Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria-(ECCVN), Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri who stated this in a press release said about 40 cows have been intercepted and they will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for action.
“This is one of the hundreds incidences of mischievous grazing the community and other neighbouring villages had suffered within Riyom Local Government Area in 2020.
“By implication, there’s bound to be a man-made hunger gravely looming up amidst COVID-19 pandemic which ought to have caused a restrain to the continued nefarious activities of the herders”, the release stressed.
According to him, the victim told him by phone that “my whole Maize farm has been completely eaten up by Cows this evening, and the Divisional Police Headquarters of Riyom Local Government Area has been informed about the mischief..”
As a result, the ECCVN is demanding among other things, the arrest of the perpetrators to be prosecuted before the Mobile Court that tries defaulters of Government directives on COVID-19.
Also, “Order a stiffer penalty against mischievous grazing as part of fighting the global pandemic and restrict grazing to farmlands so as to avoid deliberate destruction of farmed crops.”
The statement further implore the government to “direct that victims of mischievous grazing be included in Government palliatives in order to cushion the effect of damaged suffered as a result of unrepentant obduracy of mischief makers.”
