A group of farmers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, on Thursday, staged a peaceful protest and begged both the state government and the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Ghandi Olaoye to come to their aid over incessant attacks on their farms by alleged herders.

The farmers, who staged the protest at the palace of the Soun of Ogbomoso, appealed to the traditional ruler and other stakeholders to save them from the attacks on their farms.

The protesters, who spoke through Aremu Ogundare, explained that the protesters came from three different villages in the local government area, namely Kedo Arigbeyo, Kedo Salami, and Mosunmaje.

Ogundare, who doubled as the Head of Kedo Arigbeyo, lamented that they had to come to the palace to solicit the assistance of the government and monarch because the alleged herdsmen persisted in their destructive activities.

He said, “Cows have become a menace to us; the problem escalated about four or five years ago. We don’t enjoy farming any longer; all the cassava we cultivated was destroyed by them, and no one has any cassava on the farm again.

“Then, the cashew farms we thought of falling back on, the herders would take their cows there in the night to eat them off. To feed our families now is hard, we can’t train our children in school, and those in higher institutions have returned because we couldn’t raise funds to sponsor them any longer. Feeding is also a problem. That’s the reason we came here with a save-our-soul message.

“We discussed it several times; we were at the police station; we reported to the local government chairman; none yielded any solution. The herders persisted. The harders macheted us, and oftentimes times they would kill anyone who resisted them.

“Women can’t go to the farm any longer; even we men venture out in fear, out of compunction, because we must feed our families. We are fed up we are helpless, that’s the reason we have come to seek the assistance of our royal father.”

In October 2023, many persons were feared dead in a clash between Operation Burst, Oodua Peoples Congress, Amotekun, Soludero and a group of herdsmen.

Investigations revealed that a group of herdsmen invaded a farm in the community with their cattle and grazed on it, a situation which led to the demise of the owner of the farm during the argument.

Also, crops worth thousands of naira were destroyed in the process.