Headsmen have allegedly burnt rice farm of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State few days ago in Gbajimba, Guma Local Government Area of the state.
The farm manager, Kena Iordzua, while conducting newsmen round the burnt farm on New Year’s Day, disclosed that the herdsmen overran the farm with a large number of cattle during the day and set the farm on fire at three different points.
He explained that the fire wasted no time in spreading round the farm as a result of the harmattan, adding that the inferno could not be put out despite efforts by those who were working on the farm.
Kena said it took the efforts of security agents who went after the herdsmen even as they (herdsmen) kept shooting in the air as they retreated towards the Nasarawa border.
The farm manager, who estimated the burnt portion of the rice farm to be 250 hectares, said the wrecked farm was worth over N100 million.
Addressing newsmen, principal special assistant to the governor on special duties, Abrahams Kwaghngu, described the act as barbaric and a threat to food security. He stated that the law prohibiting open grazing of cattle was still in force in the state.
He explained the need for the law to be obeyed by all, stressing that the federal government needs to act fast to stop the impunity of herders.
Kwaghngu lamented that after displacing the people from their ancestral homes for over a year, the herdsmen would not allow the little that had been cultivated to be harvested.
