The attack on seven farming communities by militants believed to be of Ijaw extraction in the Ovia North West local government area of Edo State on February 22, would be remembered for a long time.
The affected communities are Marindoti, Gbelemontin Domiju, Kola Village, Taiye Camp, Eto Camp, Dipe Community, Bala Dele Community, and Thousand Community. While this is not the first time militants have caused havoc in the communities, the difference this time is the casualties recorded and the property destroyed, revealing the magnitude of the attack on the farming communities.
The incident was reportedly a reprisal attack by the militants, who claimed that the vigilantes hired by the farmers killed two of their boys who came to steal produce from their farms.
Weekend Trust learned that the attack resulted in the deaths of 22 people and several injuries, with houses and farm produce burnt to ashes.
During the attack, many houses were reduced to ashes, and the bustling farming communities now resemble ghost towns as residents are leaving the area in droves.
The police only confirmed seven deaths and six injuries so far.
Weekend Trust findings revealed that the settlers of these communities are predominantly farmers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Bini, among others.
The attackers, believed to be militants from nearby creeks, stormed the settlements early in the morning of Friday, wielding firearms and other dangerous weapons.
According to reports, the attackers unleashed terror by shooting indiscriminately, setting houses ablaze, and destroying property, including motorcycles and vehicles.
The onslaught forced residents to flee en masse, abandoning their homes and livelihoods.
It was learned that since 1998, the farmers in these communities have been paying royalties to the suspected Ijaw militants to maintain peace in the area.
Speaking on the attack, Igbala Bazuaye, the Oadiowere of Marindoti, said they have lived in peace in the area for years, and trouble started when some youths began demanding royalties from them.
Obazuaye, who sustained bullet wounds in the attack, said the assailants burned cocoa, kola nut, and cash worth more than N20 million.
“Our ordeal started in 1998 after the Ijaw and Ilaje war when they started encroaching on our land, stealing crops and kidnapping our people, despite the payment of royalties,” he said.
He added that their ordeal took a turn in 2017 when some youths attacked the community, driving everyone out, raping women and girls, and continuing to steal their produce. This situation forced him to join the vigilante to defend his people, saying, “many of them have been arrested by the police and made to sign an undertaking not to attack us then.
“But, on February 22, we were having a vigilante meeting when the Ijaw boys stormed the community, attacked the vigilantes on the ground, and made away with their guns, moving to our farms to take kolanut, among other things.”
Following the incident, the vigilantes confronted them, but the hoodlums, upon seeing the vigilantes, opened fire, leading to a retaliation that forced them to abandon what they stole and flee.
“It was as a result of that the militants came on Friday morning to unleash terror, killing many people, burning houses, and farm produce,” he said. He continued, saying, “I lost N16 million in cash, cocoa, and kolanut when they burned my house. We can’t quantify what we lost during the attack now. I lost everything; the clothes I am wearing are the only property I have, as my house was also burnt during the attack. A few days before this attack, they collected N5m as royalties from us. There was a time they collected N25m from us, saying they wanted to bring an army base to the area.”
He, however, appealed to the state government to come to their aid by establishing army and police posts in the area.
Joshua Omorodion, who lost his son Elvis Joshua during the attack, debunked the rumours that it was a communal clash. “Everybody ran away to avoid being killed during the attack. I am just returning to the community now to collect my belongings when I discovered that my son was killed.”
Joshua, who has been farming in the community for 20 years, said people are leaving the community for fear of another attack.
Another farmer, Joshua Otu, stated that over 22 persons were killed across the communities that were attacked.
He said, “It has been a long time since these attacks have been happening in this area because of our farm produce. They don’t want to work, but they want to spend money.”
“It even got to a stage where they would block the road, and any farmer returning from the farm with produce on a motorcycle would have his motorcycle and the produce seized.”
He added, “the owner would have to pay a huge sum of money to get it back. Sometimes, they would collect the money and refuse to return the motorcycle.”
He said when the problem became unbearable, the Odiowere of the community formed a vigilante to help with the situation.
“My house was set ablaze when they came to my house; they told my wife that they knew I was not a vigilante member, but my house would not be spared. I lost my property, including money, cocoa, pineapple, kola, yam and garri.”
Alhaji Usman Mukaila noted that “the attack was not a communal fight but an attempt to forcefully collect our money and other property.”
Mukaila, who has farmed cocoa in the area for the last 30 years, said they have been experiencing insecurity in the area.
“This is how it has been; they always come and attack us, collect our money, but about eight years now, they started encroaching on our farms to steal our cocoa and other produce.”
“This last attack was so terrible; we were at home, only for them to swoop on us with heavy weapons. They were shooting sporadically, killing anything in sight,” he said. He mentioned that they are living under insecurity caused by the Ijaw militants, which can only be solved by establishing military bases in the area.
Also, Nafisat Abdulazeez, a resident of Dipe community, described the experience as traumatic and uncalled for.
“No fewer than 15 persons were killed in my Dipe community, while several others went missing. They even burned my house, and my family was forced to flee,” she said.
She attributed the attack to the lack of security in the area, as the nearest police station is in Iguobazua, which is over two hours away from the community.
Meanwhile, the state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has ordered the deployment of additional security personnel to the affected areas.
He stated that the government would do everything within its power to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
He assured that his administration would ensure that those responsible for the heinous acts are brought to justice. “We are committed to ensuring the safety and security of all Edo residents. We will work closely with the security agencies, traditional leaders, and community members to achieve this goal,” he said.
He urged the people to remain calm and cooperate with the security agencies as they work to address the crisis and ensure that the situation is brought under control.
