Addressing the media, Uduophori’s President General, Mr. ThankGod Ado, explained that the demonstration was in response to the ongoing, annual intrusion of herdsmen into the community and forest areas.
What triggered this protest was the recent attack on one of our own, whose hand was amputated by the suspected Fulani herdsmen after being dragged into the forest,” he said. Ado stressed that his community was fed up: Enough is enough.
As peace-loving, law-abiding citizens, we refuse to sit by while the government allows these herdsmen to terrorize us. Our people can no longer tend their farms without fearnot only are our crops destroyed and stolen, but our loved ones are also subjected to rape and extortion.
Eighty-five-year-old Pa Benjamin Obotorino recalled, “For over 15 years, we have been under the bondage of Fulani herdsmen. They come into Uduophori with their cows to trample our crops.
Their cows now feed on our cassava, yams, and other cash crops. We are exhausted by their continuous killing, assaulting, and maiming of our people.” He added that the herdsmen frequently kidnap women, demand ransoms ranging from N80,000 to N100,000, and subject the captives to rape before releasing them.
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With tears in her eyes, the women’s leader of Uduophori, Mrs. London Edith, pleaded for urgent intervention from the government and relevant authorities, insisting that the community can no longer live under such constant threat.
Local resident Mr. Henry Emaduku also recounted a series of violent incidents over recent years: in 2023, Fulani herdsmen attacked Oghenegarhe Asadera, resulting in the amputation of his hand;
in 2024, the community’s primary school head teacher was assaulted; and in 2025, Mr. Freeborn Akpodiete was similarly attacked with his hand amputated after the herdsmen stole his android phone and an unspecified sum of money.
Emaduku noted that the herdsmen had even taken over Primary School 3, leading to its closure, and he urged the government to step in before more lives are lost
