A violent clash occurred between operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, and suspected herdsmen in Sango, Igoba, and Akure over the weekend.
According to DAILY POST, the clash occurred when Amotekun operatives were carrying out their duties to enforce the state's anti-open grazing law, leading to a violent confrontation with suspected herdsmen.
The attack on Amotekun operatives enforcing the anti-open grazing law resulted in several operatives being severely macheted. The intense clash brought vehicular movement to a standstill for several hours along the Ado-Akure road.
The operatives were attacked while responding to a distress call from farmers in the area, who reported that their farmlands and crops were being destroyed by herders' cattle.
On August 13, 2021, the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu signed the anti-open grazing bill into law, effectively prohibiting the open grazing of animals throughout the state.
According to Jimoh Adeniken, Public Relations Officer of the Amotekun Corps, the operatives deployed to the scene showed remarkable courage and determination in de-escalating the situation, despite being violently assaulted by herders.
During the operation, the Amotekun Corps' surveillance team, accompanied by the farm owners, discovered over 120 cows ravaging the farms. The cows were left unattended, with no herders or owners present.
In their efforts to enforce the state's anti-open grazing law, Amotekun operatives removed the cows from the farms. While transporting the cows through the Sango Area in Igoba, along Ado Road in Akure, they were ambushed by armed Fulani herdsmen, who attacked them with stones, bottles, cutlasses, and guns.
After the ambush, the Amotekun corps retreated from the scene, following an order from their state headquarters.
The assailants persisted in their attack, throwing stones and bottles until they reached the main road, where they brutally hacked an Amotekun officer, leaving him in a coma. The attackers also attempted to disarm the Amotekun operatives.
In response to the attack, the Amotekun officers fired warning shots into the air to disperse the assailants and subsequently retreated to their offices.