Many injured as herders, Amotekun operatives clash in Ondo

Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, popularly known as the Amotekun Corps, were at the weekend engaged in a violent clash with suspected herdsmen in Sango, Igoba, Akure, the state capital.

DAILY POST gathered that the attack occurred when the Amotekun operatives were enforcing the anti-open grazing law of the state.

During the attack, some of the operatives were brutally macheted, with the violent clash leading to a halt in vehicular movement for several hours along the Ado-Akure road.

The operatives were responding to a distress call from farmers in the area over the destruction of their farmlands and crops by the herders’ cattle when they were swooped on and attacked.

The late governor of the state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, signed the anti-open grazing bill into law on August 13, 2021, which prohibited open grazing of animals across the state.

While confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer of the Amotekun Corps, Jimoh Adeniken, disclosed that the operatives deployed for the operation displayed courage and determination in de-escalating the volatile situation, despite the violent assault they endured.

“During the operation, the corps surveillance team was led to the farms by the owners. On getting there, they met over one hundred and twenty cows ravaging the farms, and there was nobody with the cows.

“Determined to enforce the anti-open grazing law of the state, the operatives of the Amotekun corps moved the cows out of the farms, and while passing by the Sango Area, at Igoba, along Ado Road in Akure, groups of armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the officers with stones, bottles, cutlasses and guns.

“Thereafter, the corps retreated based on the order from the state headquarters of the Amotekun corps.

“Furthermore, the assailants continued to throw stones and bottles till they invaded the main road and hacked one of the Amotekun officers to a coma while attempting to disarm the officers and men of the Amotekun corps.

“Sequentially, the officers of the Amotekun Corps shot into the air to dislodge them and move back to the office.”