Suspected herdsmen attack farmer in Edo

The victim was said to be receiving medical treatment in an undisclosed hospital at Auchi, a neibouring town. Aliu told newsmen in a telephone interview in Benin City that the incident occurred around 9:00a.m.

It was further leant that the matter was reported to the Divisional Police Headquarters, in Afuze, the council headquarters.He explained: “When I was harvesting plantain in my farm, I did not know that some herdsmen had laid an ambush for me. Suddenly, they pounced on me with machete, and threatened to kill me.

“At that point, knowing that it was a matter of life and death, I engaged them in a serious fight and in the process, they cut my head.He added that when they assumed that he had died, they fled.In May this year, six suspected herdsmen raped a married woman and beat up her husband at a farm in the same community. Reacting to the incident, the eldest man in Ivbiaro community, Musa Kadiri, urged the security agencies to come to their aid.

He lamented that farming in the past five years had been at its lowest ebb, following the frequent attacks.He said people in the predominantly farming community, no longer go to farm, for fear of herdsmen’s attack. Kadiri also called on the local and state governments to do everything possible to stop the attacks.Efforts to get reactions from the Chairman of the local council, Andrew Osigwe, were unsuccessful, as he did not pick the calls put across to his mobile phone.