Terror in Rivers community

By SUNDAY ANI (THE SUN)
They came, innocently as it could be and they were grazing their cattle without problems. But that was not for long, according to Ubima community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. These Fulani cattle rearers soon began to terrorize the community. Ubima is the hometown of the governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi. According to the governor’s kinsmen, trouble started three years ago when the herdsmen invaded their farmland with their cattle. They started with grazing in the community farms and stealing animals caught in the traps set by the village hunters. Soon, they started raping women who went to farm unaccompanied by men.

Insight was at Ubima recently and saw a prostrate community. The women whose, main occupation is farming, no longer go near their farms for fear of being raped by the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. Hunters also bear the brunt as they are dispossessed of their catch by the invaders. Now, unable to stomach the excesses of the herdsmen any longer, the villagers are spoiling for war, if nothing is done fast. Speaking on the plight of the villagers, the leader of Ubima Farmers’ Association, Mrs. Gladys Amadi, who also led women on protest recently to Government House, Port Harcourt, said that before the women embarked on the exercise, they had made several entreaties, including writing a petition through their lawyer, Odinaka O. Dimkpa. In the letter, they appealed for government’s intervention to avert bloodbath. She said they had also approached both the police and the Fulani leaders in Elele to assist in settling the problem but there was no positive result.

This, according to her, made the villagers to send a delegation to the herdsmen at their camp around the farm, but they were chased away by the herdsmen, who fired several shots into the air. “It was after we exhausted all avenues to make peace and they refused that our men asked us to lead a protest to the Government House. Meanwhile, as we speak, they have taken over our farms. They build tents around the place as their living place. They rape our women with reckless abandon; their cattle eat up our crops; they destroy our ponds where fishermen catch fish; they chase our hunters away from the forest. In fact, we are finished. Our means of livelihood is destroyed. We can’t go to farm again because once they see you as a woman; they would rape and thoroughly beat you,” she lamented. Checks revealed that after the women protested to the government, the state commissioner of police detailed some policemen to go and ascertain the level of damage on the farm. When they got there, the herdsmen opened fire on them. It was further learnt that the policemen, who were armed with AK 47, had to retreat when they discovered that the herdsmen had superior firearms. Findings also showed that after the women protested at the Government House, some politicians in the community warned them never to say that they are being raped by herdsmen, as such story is capable of tarnishing the good image of the community.

So, when the victims of the Fulani herdsmen came out to narrate their ordeals, the rape victims were conspicuously missing, except two persons who narrowly escaped being raped when the herdsmen attacked them. Findings also showed that the youths of the community are bracing up for war with the herdsmen, if nothing is done to send them (herdsmen) away from the farms. However, elders of the community have been prevailing on them to be patient.

However, the villagers who spoke to our correspondent, shared their ordeals and appealed to the authorities concerned to save the community from the impending famine and avoidable bloodshed. Tales of woes Madam Theresa Amadi saw the bitter side of the Fulani herdsmen, when on that fateful day, they met her and her daughter on their farm. They wanted to rape her daughter but she escaped. They were furious that Mrs. Amadi allowed her daughter to escape after they were ready for action. Narrating the ugly incident, the mother of 12 said: “I went to farm that day to harvest some crops for our consumption when the Fulani herdsmen appeared from nowhere. They attempted to catch my daughter but she was very fast enough to have escaped from their grips. When they could not get my daughter to rape, they came back and descended heavily on me; they beat me silly. They were about three and this happened in February this year. I couldn’t get help from anybody because there was no one in sight.

They left me when they felt they were satisfied I had learnt my lesson not to allow my daughter escape next time. I was very lucky they didn’t rape me. Some other persons were not that lucky; they raped them, but I was very lucky. I only incurred their wrath when my daughter escaped and I couldn’t provide her for them to rape. I later went to hospital where I spent over N12, 000 for treatment.” A hunter, Mr. Livi Dike has also had a raw deal with the herdsmen. Hear him: “That day, they met me on the way and asked me where I was going. I told them I was going to check my trap and they ordered me to go back. I turned back and never went back to that forest again. I never checked my trap again.

Secondly, they also destroyed my farm. I cultivate cassava, cocoyam, pepper, maize, yam and vegetables. When I met them grazing with their cattle in my farm, I begged them to leave but they threatened to deal with me if I didn’t run away. I ran away and today I no longer go to my farm for fear of what they could do. They are very wicked and they could kill at any time. This happened in April this year and since then, I have not been to my farm again.” Mrs. Blessing Wali said that only God saved her from the herdsmen. They did not only destroy her crops, they also damaged her bicycle, which, according to her, helps her a great deal in moving around and going to farm. Narrating her experience, she said: “When I went to farm that day, I saw them and their cattle inside my farm; the cattle were eating up and destroying my crop. I cried out but they used their stick to flog the dare devil out of me for daring to shout.

As some of them were beating me, one of them took my bicycle and broke it in pieces. All my cries for help didn’t yield anything because nobody was in sight to help me. Though, I still go there, it is very dangerous because they could rape me as they have done to so many women.” For Mrs. Amadigwe, a widow with 11 children, her major problem now is how to pay back the N100, 000 loan she got from a friend. She invested the money in her farm in the hope that she would have a bumper harvest from where she would raise the money and pay back. But the invasion of her farm and destruction of her crops by the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle have compounded her travails.

In a voice full of agony, she said: “The men invaded my farm, destroyed my crops and beat me up with the stick they use in herding their cattle. To my greatest surprise, the next time I visited my farm, all the crops had been totally destroyed by the Fulani and their cattle. Somebody gave me a loan of N100,000 for farming. Now, they have destroyed everything. Where do I get the money to pay back? I cultivate yam, cocoyam, cassava and vegetables. I can’t feed my children any longer and that was why I cried out with other women, which led to our protest visit to the Government House. Since our protest to the Government House, nothing has been done. Now, what the herdsmen do is to lay ambush and rape whosoever that falls into the ambush.

I have 11 children without a husband. I find it difficult to feed my children now.” Madam Gladys Amadi is the leader of Ubima Farmers’ Association. She led the protest to the Rivers State Government House. She is neck-deep in the fight to see that the Fulani herdsmen leave the Rubber Estate where members of Ubima community have their farms. In her own narration, she said: “Hausa cattle-rearers with hundreds of cattle invaded our farms and destroyed all our crops. The greatest problem I have is that my godfather gave me N500,000 and I shared the money N100,000 each to five other women so that after the harvest we could pay back. Now, the Fulani and their cattle have destroyed everything. How do we get the money to pay back?

Another thing that worries us now is that, unlike before the commissioner sent policemen to the farm to assess the level of damage, what they do now is to lay ambush on our women with their dogs and as soon as they see a woman, they would pounce on her and rape her. They no longer come to our farm with their cattle since the police intervention; they now hide along the farm roads, waiting for women to rape. Just three days ago, they almost succeeded in raping Mrs. Didia, but God just rescued her.

Although they no longer come to our farm with their cattle, it is too late because they have destroyed all our crops. Even at that, we still cannot go to farm because of fear of being raped. The few women that still manage to go to farm do so in company with their husbands. And farming is the only occupation we know. It is the only source of income for us. Hunger is looming in our land. We want the government to look into this matter urgently. We don’t want them in our community again.

They should leave our community at once. That is what we are appealing to the state and federal government to do for us, otherwise the youths may soon take laws into their hands.” Mrs. Beatrice Didia, a mother of seven, whose husband is still alive could have made the infamous list of those raped by the Fulani herdsmen, but for her courage and God’s mercy. She escaped to tell her story. She was brought to the reporter by her husband who kept wondering what could have happened if they had succeeded in raping his wife.

The lucky woman said: “That day, it rained heavily and I was at the farm. when I wanted to go, I became afraid. And there was another woman with whom I went to farm that day but she was working in her own farm. She came over to ask me to round up so we could go. I asked her to get prepared so we could go but unknown to me, the Fulani man was trailing her. When he didn’t see her, he came over to me and tried to rape me. He initially brought out a cutlass and threatened to kill me if I shout but I pushed him and the cutlass fell off his hand. Before he regained himself, I picked the cutlass and threw it inside the bush. He grabbed me and wanted to tear my clothes but again I pushed him very hard and he fell down and I took to my heels.

As I was running, I was shouting until I got to a point where I met a Calabar man who volunteered to go back to my farm with me to see the Fulani man. When we got there, he had escaped and when the Calabar man saw the effect of my struggle with him on the grasses around the place, he concluded that the man did not only want to rape me but also wanted to kill me. It was only God that saved me from him that day. When I came back, I told my husband and other people what I experienced at the farm. Before that incident, I only heard of their evil activities but had not come in contact with them.

Since that day, I have stopped going to farm. I have seven children.” Chinyere Amadi, a widow, also lamented that at the end of this academic session she might not be able to pay for her children’s school fees any longer as the Fulani herdsmen had destroyed all her crops with their cattle. She is also one of the women who got N100,000 loans and who is also disturbed about how to repay. Lamenting the ugly trend, which, according to her, is capable of locking the community with the herdsmen in bloody war, she said: “All I know is that for the past three years, we have been suffering in the hands of these Fulani herdsmen but this year has become unbearable.

They have finished us. Their cattle have eaten up all our crops. Our efforts are wasted. What sustains us is farming. We sell waterleaf and get money to buy garri and other food to eat. That is the only way we generate income to sustain life, but with what is happening now, many of us are in trouble. We can’t feed our families any longer because our means of livelihood has been destroyed by the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle. “One of us got N500,000 from her godfather and shared the money among five women including herself, with each getting N100, 000. As it is now, we don’t know how we are going to pay back the loan because our crops where we invested the money have been eaten up and destroyed by the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.

I am a widow with eight children. Some of us who have the courage to go to farm cannot do so without a man. So, now that I don’t have a husband, how do I go to farm? I can’t go because I am afraid of the herdsmen who are not only destroying our crops but also raping us. If they see you alone in the farm, they would rape you and possibly beat you to death after raping you if God is not on your side. And even if they don’t kill you, you won’t be able to stand after the rape if there is nobody to help you. So, that’s why we went to the Government House to let the governor know what we are going through.

If the governor can provide security for us in our farms, it will go a long way in solving this problem and saving us from possible famine. Security personnel should be able to monitor their movement and curtail their excesses and by so doing, we will be able to go to farm and work with peace of mind instead of working and entertaining fear that somebody somewhere can attack and rape you. “The day I encountered them was the day they said they were hunting. They were three and it was a man that rescued me that day. They were beating me with their dogs and as I was shouting, a man heard my voice and shouted, “Who is doing that?” Immediately they heard a man’s voice, they ran away.

Who knows, maybe they would have raped me like they have been doing to so many other women but that man’s voice saved me. So, it’s only when a man accompanies you that you can go to farm and be safe from them otherwise you stand the risk of not only being raped but also losing your life . We no longer go to farm. One of my children may have to drop out of school after this term because I won’t be able to pay his school fees next term.

Farming is our only means of income and survival. Without farming, there is no income for us; without farming, there is no food for us. In fact, without farming, there is no life for us. We cultivate cassava, maize, yam, cocoyam, okra, pepper etc. So, that’s why we are calling on both the state and federal governments to come to our aid to avoid hunger and starvation and the possible loss of lives and property in a seemingly communal clash that is looming large.” For Benedete Amadi, her husband was her saving grace.

As soon they saw her husband, they took off. She said: “I was working when they invaded my farm with their dogs. When I saw them, I shouted and my husband came out and as soon as they saw my husband, they disappeared. If my husband were not there, I wouldn’t know what would have happened. Maybe I could have been among the women they had raped since this ugly development started. But thank God my husband was there and they just disappeared at once.” A widow and mother of five, Madam Mercy Amadi was forlorn when the reporter spoke with her. She despondently looked into the sky with so many thoughts running through her mind. She soberly said: “They attacked me where I was working in my farm. My offence was asking them to take away their cattle.

I am a widow with five children; they destroyed all my crops. I am dying of hunger with my children. Government should help us.” Narrow escape A primary five pupil, Victory Joseph escaped being raped by the whiskers. But her mother got the beating of her life for helping her to escape. The 12-year-old girl, who is the third in a family of five children, narrated what happened to her and her mother. “I was with my mother when the man came to ask us for water. We told him we didn’t have any water and he asked me to come; he was giving me eye signs which I didn’t understand until he said he wanted to have sex with me.

Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed and tore my clothes including my pants to shreds but I managed to escape unhurt because my mother intervened. I ran as fast as I could, shouting for help because he was beating my mother mercilessly. As I couldn’t get any help from anywhere, I ran home but just few seconds after I got home, my mother also ran home. We left both the cassava we had harvested and our cutlass, which the man later made away with, ” she explained. Corroborating Victory`s story, her mother, Mrs. Rachael Joseph, said: “As we were at the farm, he came and asked me to give him my daughter to have sex with but I said no. When he grabbed my daughter, I rushed him and when he faced me, my daughter escaped. As my daughter escaped, he became furious and thoroughly beat me with that their special sticks.

I had a cutlass, so as I wanted to cut his hand with the cutlass, he escaped into the bush. This happened in February.” John Didia, hunter and farmer, is one of the elders of Ubima whose wife escaped being raped by the whiskers. He was also the only man who accompanied the women to the Government House during the protest. He also shares his thoughts and opinion on the development. Speaking with our reporter, he said: “All they have said is true. I have heard and I have seen and I have resolved to go with the women anywhere they want to go provided a peaceful solution is found to this problem.

After cultivating yam, they would destroy everything. We are hunters and after laying traps, they would take all the animals our traps caught. There are hunters in the afternoon and night and when these Fulani herdsmen see them, they would seize their guns and the animals they killed from them and chase them home. “We also have fish pond and they also attack our people there. They went to the place where we have our fishpond to erect their tents there and whenever they see you coming, they would think you are coming to attack them and they would attack you instantly, thereby preventing us from fishing in our ponds.

If you have a cutlass, they would seize it from you; if you have a gun, they would equally seize it from you. We called all the farm road owners and resolved to send the women to the Government House to inform the governor of what is happening in our community. I was the only man in their midst that day. The commissioner of police asked us to invite the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Elele, to go and personally assess the level of damage in our farms. We went to the place with the DPO who sympathized with us after assessing the damage. All our crops were totally destroyed. We are the main suppliers of all the maize consumed in Port Harcourt but this year there is no maize because Fulani cattle have destroyed everything we planted this year.

This has been happening for some years but we shouted because this year’s attacks have become unbearable. It has got to a stage where our women are no longer safe to go to farm. When they see a woman on the road, they would seize and rape her. If not for God, they would have raped my wife in June. How would you feel if a fellow man seizes and rapes your wife? Will you clap for the man? No, you will retaliate and by so doing, it would degenerate to a bigger problem. We are calling on government to move in and arrest this ugly trend. “The police, council of chiefs and the local government chairman have not done anything.

From the information at my disposal, the cattle no longer invade our farms but the herdsmen know all the routes, so they now lay ambush for our women to rape them.” Also speaking on the matter, Chief Samuel Amadi (JP) said: “We are not happy over what is happening. If not that we pressured the women to intervene, the youths would have caused trouble. The youths were out to fight the people but we restrained them. And these Fulani people are not ready for any peace talks; they are ever ready with their guns and arrows and everything to stab and shoot our people. But we have told them that if they are 10, we would suppress them because if they kill 10, we would kill all of them.” When asked to confirm the story that when policemen went there, they were chased back by the herdsmen, he said: “They have sophisticated guns.

The police went there to ascertain the extent of damage. The Fulani are feeding on their cattle; we are feeding on our crops. That’s all; they should allow us feed on our crops.” On the allegation that farmers no longer go to farm, he said: “That is why we asked the women to protest to the Government House because we don’t want to take laws into our hands. We are still waiting to hear from both the local and state governments.” Leader of herdsmen react When the leader of Fulani herdsmen in Elele area of Rivers State, Alhaji Hussaini Sarki was contacted on phone, he said in passable English: “I don tell Ubima people that I am a peace maker. I no dey find trouble.

I don tell my people make them no dey carry nama (cattle) to Rubber Estate again because Ubima people say they no want nama there. I don tell Ubima people say anybody wey they catch that place, anything wey they like, make they do am. “And for the rape, I don tell them say anybody wey they catch, make they kill am. I no dey find trouble. When the women leader say she loss her phone, I give am N7, 500 to buy another phone. I no dey find trouble. Nothing concern me. My hand no dey inside.” However, police sources hinted that the issue is being looked into. “We are aware of the problem the villagers are having with the Fulani herdsmen and efforts are being made to resolve it amicably,” the source said.