Mrs Felicia Nwokonte from Umuana Ndume in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, has cried out over the total destruction of her crops and farmland located near Obioma quarters behind Timber Shed Market, Umuahia, by cows.

The 53-year-old mother of four, who said she was into farming to support the family, told Vanguard that she could not recognise her farm again as cows not only eat up the crop but also completely levelled the entire farmland in a fenced plot of land.

Narrating her ordeal to our Correspondent, Mrs Nwokonte accused the herders of breaking the padlock with which she locked the entrance gate to the fenced plot of land before grazing their flock on the farm.

” I could not recognise my farm again. All the cassava, yam, vegetables and other crops that I planted were eaten up by cows. They turned the farmland into a football pitch. It’s like the Fulani boys rearing the cows are sleeping inside my farm.”

Describing the destruction of her farm as cruelty and the height of wickedness, the mother of four called on Abia State Government to come to her aid.

Asked if she had tried to confront the herders, she said she was afraid they might attack her.

Attempts to get reaction from the police were unsuccessful as neither the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Maureen Chinaka; nor the Commissioner of Police, Danladi Isa, picked calls put across to them.

Despite the enactment of anti open grazing law in Abia State, cows have continued to graze openly even with impunity in parts of the state including the state capital.

Streets of Umuahia the state capital are sometimes, littered with cow droppings as the herders have continued to roam with their animals even at night despite Government warnings.

Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, recently threatened to arrest the cows but the threat seems to have only fallen on deaf ears.

Security agencies seem to have turned a blind eyes away as the herders and their cows are on the prawl. (Vanguard)

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