If nothing is quickly done now to check the brewing trouble, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area may go into flames, following devastating damages down to farms in the Area by Cows led by Herdsmen.
Trumpeta investigation unveiled that most crops planted this season for bountiful harvest next year have either been eaten up by Cows or stamped to death by the Animals.
This Newspaper leant that youths in most of the communities in the LGA are gearing up for a confrontation with the Herdsmen, but are being restrained by the Traditional Rulers they claim have been calming them down, with yet no solution, as the Herders and their Animals even encroach into compounds without restraint.
Trumpeta discovered that the situation is being discussed among all the communities in Ngor Okpala, from Umuhu, Nnorie, Okpala, Umuneke, Umuewere, Immerienwe, Orishieze, Umuahiagu, Obiangwu and others.
A source in one of the communities said that when confronted, the Traditional Rulers told them to wait while they consult with Security Personnel in the LGA.
A Youth Leader who did not want his name in print said that his Traditional Ruler told the youths that the Divisional Police Officer, DPO in Ngor Okpala appealed to them to rein in the youths, as the times are not ripe to cause problem following insecurity in the land.
“Our Eze said the DPO begged him to calm the youths since any problem could escalate the matter, saying that police is looking into the matter based on the capacity at their disposal” the youth told Trumpeta.
Trumpeta was informed that everybody in Ngor Okpala should thread with caution and eschew acts that could heat up the situation, since security men in the LGA are still battling to contain the problem that blew up some weeks ago following a clash between Herdsmen and Sand Dredgers at Umuneke/Umuenwere River.
Most of the Traditional Rulers in Ngor Okpala who spoke to Trumpeta under anonymity confirmed the devastation wrought on Farms in Ngor Okpala by cows, but appealed that the situation should not be taken out of proportion by the youths and called for calm, while they deal with the situation with the security personnel in the LGA.
“We are doing our best. But the Herders hardly listen to us. Nobody is driving them away, but they should feed their Animals on grasses and not in Farms where they destroy crops” a Traditional Ruler told Trumpeta.
