Herdsmen Kill 3 Farmers

A clash between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, mostly youths in Asang Eniong village   in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State has resulted in the death of  three of the farmers.

The herdsmen engaged the youths of the village in a fight Tuesday when the youths  told them to vacate their farmland where the herdsmen were grazing their cattle.

“We asked them to vacate the land as their cattle were destroying our crops but they  refused. Rather, they engaged us in a fight with machetes and killed three of our  members,” Etcheri Okokon, a youth leader in the village, told P.M.NEWS.

The youth leader gave the names of those killed as:  Samuel Ekanem, Ededem John and  Idarete Okon.

“The late Samuel was our youth leader.  He had seven children. He led us to meet  Alhaji Bature the head of the cattle rearers.  But when we got there Bature asked  Fulani people to attack us with machetes,” Okokon alleged.

He stated that the cattle rearers went ahead to ransack their village, causing them  to flee their homes.

He claimed that the police sent to the village did not arrest the herdsmen.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Cross River State Police Command, ASP Etim  Dickson said he was not aware of the incident.

However, another police source said eleven armed policemen have been drafted to the  place and advised the fleeing villagers to return to their homes.

—Emma Una/Calabar