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Farmers in towns in Delta state have resigned to fate and in grief over continued suffering in the hands of marauding Fulani cattle rearers, who continued to take over farms and destroy their crops.

In Igbodo, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, farmers said they have complained to the authorities about the menace of the Fulani cattle rearers who set fire on farms, just to get rodent meat for their dogs which they use in the bush to get rodents to feed them. In the process, cash crops like cassava, yam tubers, among many other crops are destroyed.

It is same situation with adjoining towns, like Onicha-Ugbo, Obior, Akumazi, among other towns.

A farmer, Onyisi Anumudu said: “Now, we can’t get cassava sticks for planting, because the Fulani cattle rearers always set our farms on fire. In the process, our crops and the stick from which we are to do the next planting are burnt and destroyed. They are always in the bush armed with dangerous weapons thereby scaring farmers – men and women from accessing their farms.

A woman, Mrs. Anna Nedu said she thought that Delta State Government made a law preventing open grazing of by cattle and other such animals and wondered why the state government is not enforcing the law. “Why are they not enforcing the law. Fulani and their cattle have taken over our farmlands. They roam their cattle everywhere and openly set fire on crops. And they do it with impunity. And we are helpless,” she lamented.

Mr. Samson Oyibo, an indigene of Obior besides expressing disgust that his farm efforts might yield nothing because of the nefarious activities of the cattle rearers, he said it means that the nation would have to grapple with food shortage since farmers can no longer gain access to their farms.