Farmers in Kogi State, particularly in the Eastern Senatorial district have been subjected to paying taxes and levies by Fulani herders.
This was disclosed by Kogi East Critical Stakeholders, lamenting that the herders are fully armed with AK47 which they use to intimidate farmers and fishers into paying levies to them.
Chairman of the group and former Deputy Governor in the old Benue State, Sule Iyaji stated this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, noting that they have taken over the administration of fishing and agrarian communities and were levying taxes on the people of Kogi State.
The group explained that Fulani herders have been moving into Kogi East in droves with arms, thereby creating tension and panic across communities.
The group appealed to President Bola Tinubu to wade into the situation as the people of Omala and Dekina can no longer go to farm for fear of attack.
Iyaji said, there have been long battle between Omala and Dekina farmers with Fulani, but the situation abated in recent times before the sudden influx, stating that his intervention will save bloodletting and will avoid self-help.
KECS accused Governor Usman Ododo of neglecting the interests of the people of Kogi East, who constitute over 50 percent of the state’s population.
They said Ododo had made only two appointments of commissioners from Kogi East, in a deliberate attempt to exclude them from decision making and governance.
