Women storm council secretariat as herdsmen allegedly uproot their cassava to feed cattle

• Abia women protested at a council secretariat over alleged destruction of their cassava and other crops by herders.

• The women said cattle had also trampled crops including beans, maize and melon.

• The council chairman promised an investigation and convened a security meeting involving community and herder representatives.

Farming has become a source of worry rather than livelihood for women in Obinolu Ngodo, a community in Umunneochi Local Government Area, Abia State, after weeks of alleged crop destruction by herdsmen forced dozens of them to march on the local council secretariat this week.

Carrying placards and clumps of uprooted cassava stems as proof, the women told officials at the Nkwoagu headquarters that herders had been deliberately pulling up their cassava to feed cattle, while grazing herds trampled through other crops still germinating, including beans, maize and melon.

Several of the women said they no longer feel safe walking onto their own farmland, and warned that if the pattern continues, the community could be looking at a genuine hunger crisis, since farming is essentially the only livelihood most households there have.

Their placards captured the anxiety driving the protest: "Our people may die of hunger," one read. Others said, "We are now afraid to enter our farms," "We don't want Fulani herdsmen in our farms," and "Government, save us now."

Council Chairman Sunny Afurobi met the protesters directly and said their account wasn't isolated, that he'd already received similar complaints from another community nearby. He pledged to investigate.

"Governor Alex Otti is serious about the security of our people. He tackled the incessant kidnapping of our people, and the government is not sleeping when it comes to security matters. We will investigate the problem because we cannot abandon our farms," he said.

In the days after the protest, Afurobi called an emergency security meeting bringing together security chiefs, leaders of the area's Hausa community, and representatives of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), alongside community leaders from both Obinolu and Ngodo, in an effort to defuse the tension.

The meeting surfaced allegations beyond crop damage, as some residents claimed farmers had faced harassment and, in a few cases, abduction, and accused certain herders of ignoring existing local restrictions on open grazing. Community leaders reiterated that open grazing is banned in Umunneochi altogether and pushed the state government to step in with firmer enforcement.

No arrests or formal action had been announced as of the time of this report.

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