Herdsman machetes farmer to death in Ogun

A bloody clash broke out in a farmland at Imala, an ancient community near Aiyetoro in Ogun State during which farmers slugged it out with herdsmen for killing one of them by a herdsman.

The late farmer, 35-year-old Segun Akinlade, was said to had visited his newly cultivated farmland on Sunday, December 1, 2019, and suddenly saw grazing cows on the farm.

Piqued by the development, Akinlade, it was gathered, reached for his catapult, apparently to chase the herder and his cows out of the farm, but beyond his expectations, the stone hit the herder on the forehead following which, in a reprisal, he pulled out his cutlass as an instrument of attack on the farmer.

The situation became so tensed that the farmer too went for his cutlass and a test of wit began between the feuding parties, at the end of which Akinlade fell to the superior power of his adversary.

The news of the incident, in no time, went viral resulting in the convergence of sympathizers of the warring men, a scenario that had got to the peak of free-for-all but doused by the timely arrival of police detectives from Imala Division.

In the narrative of the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, "The suspect was arrested following a distress call received by the police at Imala Division that fight had broken out between herdsmen and farmers in Imala, as a result of which the DPO, CSP Mobolaji Jimoh, quickly mobilized his men and moved to the scene".

Oyeyemi further stated in a press release made available to Crime Puzzle that "On getting to the scene, the corpse of the deceased was found on the ground while the suspect, Muhammad Garba, who also sustained machete cut injuries, was identified and promptly arrested.

"A preliminary investigation carried out by the police revealed that trouble started when the deceased got to his newly cleared farmland and met the suspect grazing his cattle there. in order to chase him away, he used catalpult to frighten him but the catapult stone hit the herdsman on the forehead. This infuriated the suspect who brought out cutlass to fight the deceased, who was also armed with a cutlass.

"The two of them used cutlass on each other resulting to the death of Akinlade. The corpse of the deceased has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy.

"Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for further investigation and prosecution", the police image maker stated.