By Adebayo Williams
A clash involving farmers and herdsmen in Delta State has claimed five lives, reports say. Violence broke out when the herdsmen reportedly left the grazing area allocated to them. Their action sparked outrage among the farmers who protested thereby causing a clash between both parties. The resulting violence claimed the lives of four men and a woman. Among the deceased were two cousins, Akpoyona Felix and Sunday Akpupu, from Eku community but residents in Abraka. They were both reportedly killed in their farms.
Akpovona, a father of five was said to have been shot by the herdsmen while his cousin was hacked to death and his finger chopped off.
Investigations revealed that the second incident happened in a farm along the Abraka-Benin Road, a boundary area between Urhoka-Abraka and Obiaruku, claiming the lives of two men and a woman.
“They had gone to the farm last week Tuesday, when they did not return the next day, a search party was sent to look for them only to discover their lifeless bodies at separate locations by a river bank near their farms,” Progress Aganbi, a native of the area told The Sun.
Police spokesman in Delta State, Andrew Aniamaka, said: “I could only confirm that of Abraka, where two persons were killed.
“It was first reported as a case of a missing person on the third day. One Akpovena Godwin reported that his brother was missing. They are from Eku community.
“By morning of the fourth day, they found the deceased and that of Sunday Akpokpo. Sunday Akpokpo was 40 years while Felix Akpovena was 39 years. It was an actual case of murder. There is the suspicion that it might have been a reprisal attack,” he said.
