Cow grazing: tension in Igoba over Hausa settlers\ Amotekun brawl.
By Steve Ovirih.
The Igoba axis of Akure\Ado Ekiti road was blocked on Friday 5th July, causing major gridlock and heightened tension in the area.
It will be recalled that Shasha, Igoba and Isinigbo along Ado road in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State is densely populated by Hausa\ Fulani settlers, who ply their trade either as cattle herders, beef sellers with others into pepper and tomato sales.
According to eyewitness account, trouble started at Igoba on Friday when some residents of the area invited members of the Amotekun Corps over their agitation to stop Fulani herders from feasting their herds on crops in their farms as there had been complaints in the time past over how cows had strayed into their farm lands destroying crops which harvest are meant to be sold by farmers.
On this fateful day, some cows had just grazed over a farmland, destroying crops as they fed on them. The confrontation between the Fulani cow herders and a member of the Amotekun corp descended into the bizarre leading to bloodletting in which a bullet had hit a Hausa settler, while an Amotekun Corp member had also suffered a severe cut to his arm.
A follow up to this unfortunate development was the coordinated protest by the irate Hausa \ Fulani settlers of Igoba who thronged out to the major Igoba road in their large numbers. A haulage truck was used to block the high way, stopping the flow of traffic from both the Akure and Ado Ekiti ends of the highway.
Crack Police squad from the State Command and officers and Men of the Nigerian Army were promptly drafted to the hot spot to quell the protest and end the illegal disruption of public movement in the area.
While the commotion lasted , Motorcyclists and tricycle riders from Oja Oba to Igoba made brisk business as transport fare was jerked up and even at that passengers could not move beyond The Glory land Junction at SangoIgoba before Kara market.
As at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the major high way has been cleared of the burnt debris gathered by the protesters as the thoroughfare has now been restored.
