Residents of the Agbede community in Edo State’s Etsako West local government area have said that kidnapping and killing have continued and that the community’s surrounding villages and forests have been taken over by suspected herders, who they accuse of killing and maiming those who could not pay a ransom, raping women, and displacing farmers from their farmlands.
According to them, Agbede and its surrounding villages, including Odighie, Egono and Awain, have been under siege for the past two months, and efforts to enlist the assistance of the police in the area have been futile, as they accuse the police of complicity, alleging that a senior police officer from the country’s north is allegedly protecting the criminals.
“Farm destruction, killings, rapes, and kidnappings for ransom have become disturbingly common, and the police, instead of protecting the communities, seem to be aiding and abetting the Fulani herders against the aborigines.
“The DPO at the Agbede Police Station, the Police Area Command in Auchi, and the Zone Five Office in Benin are not helping matters, as we are suspecting them of backing the herders with lining orders, which is now creating fear amongst the people over their genuine protection and safety.”
To shed further light, a member of the Edo community who did not want his name printed accused the police of employing blackmail, harassment, and detention to frighten vigilantes and hunters who dared to oppose the Fulani invaders.
The individual claimed that they are made to sign agreements not to confront the herders and that anyone caught in connection with these atrocities is released within hours of arrest.
“Mamudu Momoh was attacked on his farm after he met some herdsmen taking over the farms, uprooting his cassava to feed their cows, and in the process, he was attacked and injured. He went to the Agbede Police Division to report the case. The case was later turned against him; he was arrested and taken to Zone 5, where he was detained, and the community spent a lot of money to secure his release.
“There is another farmer in the community, Idris, who has been kidnapped by the herdsmen for over a month now, and ransom has been paid; the man is yet to be released up till today.
“We are asking the inspector general of police to withdraw the DPO of the Agbede Police Division, who is a Northerner, without which the Agbede community will never know peace in the hands of the herdsmen who are everywhere in our bush, claiming to be hunters.
When contacted, CSP Moses Yamu, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Command, denied the accusations, stating that the officers and men of the Agbede Police Division have been working around the clock to deal with the herdsmen issue in the region.
He stated that the police in Agbede, with assistance from the Auchi Area Command, had apprehended over ten alleged kidnappers in that axis and are currently being probed.
CSP Yamu also stated that the Agbede community were not fair to the police in their protest, especially to the Zone 5 Command, saying that the AIG of the zone had just assumed duty in less than two weeks, and for the community to be accusing the police of aiding and abetting herdsmen in their areas is unjust.
The PPRO mentioned that the Edo State Police Command will continue to make efforts to repel the menace of kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state.
