In Bayelsa, Women are Protesting the Invasion and Destruction of Farmlands by Herders

By Derrick Bangura

WOMEN from the Otuasega village in Bayelsa State’s Ogbia Local Government Area held a peaceful protest yesterday against what they termed as herdsmen’s constant invasion and destruction of their farmlands.

The women who fall trees and attached fresh palm fronds to barricade the Otuasega end of the Edepie-Imiringi Road, which connects towns in Ogbia and Nembe councils to Yenagoa, the state capital, demanded the state government’s immediate involvement to prevent violence in their community.
The development caused serious gridlock on the busy route, which is a gateway to the hundreds of oil fields in the East senatorial district of the state, forcing motorists to take a detour through the Okarki-Yenigwe axis to access the state capital.

The protesters were armed with placards with the inscriptions such as, “Our Women Are Not Safe in the Farms Anymore”, “Government of Bayelsa should protect our poor farmers from destruction by herdsmen”, “We don’t want herdsmen and their cows in Otuasega again to avoid trouble”, “Our crops and farmland are constantly destroyed by cow”,“We need government assistance, our women are longer safe,” among others.
They vowed not to vacate the route until the state government look into their demands.

The woman leader of Otuasega community, Mrs. Amiena Abiogu, who led the protest said they were forced to converge on the road to draw government attention to their plight.
She lamented that despite the state government’s ban on open grazing, the herders have continued to invade and destroy their farmlands.

She recalled a near-tragic incident in which one of their youths was attacked by some herdsmen trespassing on their farmlands.
Her words: “Some few weeks back, cows invaded our community (Otuasega) with their keepers, despite the state government ban on open grazing. They invaded the community with guns, cutlasses and brutally attacked one of our youths.

“Now in less than six weeks, they have returned. We don’t like what we are seeing in our forests, our women are constantly being harassed on our farms.

“The sight of the herdsmen and their cattle alone can make one run away. It is not enough that they are threatening our lives in the forests, they are also destroying our crops.

“That is why we are here on the road today, we cannot do it in our bedroom. Also, we don’t want our boys out because it could degenerate into violence.
“Let our governor tell us what’s going on.” We know there is a legislation prohibiting open grazing in Bayelsa State, so why are herdsmen continuously invading and damaging our crops? Our farmwomen are vulnerable, so we require government support and safety.”