25-year-old Olaide Yahya, left his home with his wife, Balikis Saturday afternoon; hurriedly for his farm located at Oke-Odo in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State with no inkling he was to lose part of his body to a malevolent herdsman.
Prior to Saturday, Yahya had always gone to the farm at any time of the day returning home without clash with anyone.
According to Balikis, Yahya while working on his farm discovered cattles encroaching on his farm land and eating his produce. He also noticed a herdsman harvesting his yam to feed his animals, a situation which made him appeal to the Fulani man to stop the act.
Instead of putting a stop to the act, the Fulani man allegedly attacked Yahya with his cutlass apparently to hit him on the head but the farmer ended up having his right hand chopped off as he made an attempt to block the cutlass.
"We were working on the farm when my husband attempted to check the other side of the farm and he realised that a Fulani herdsman was harvesting our yam, when he (my husband) asked him to stop harvesting our produce, the man attacked him aggressively and raised his cutlass to hit him on the head.
"It was in an attempt to block the cutlass that my husband's right hand was cut off and it fell to the ground. The herdsman took to his heels after committing the crime," Balikis disclosed, adding that her husband had no intention to fight the herdsman.
According to Balikis, the victim was quickly rushed home before he was taken to Arewa Hospital in Ilorin for medical attention. She however said it was while rushing Yahya to the hospital that the part of his hand that was cut off was forgotten at home.
Reacting to the issue, uncle of the farmer, Saka Alabi said, "We have tolerated the Fulani herdsmen's excesses for long and we have always told them to leave us alone.
"Government said we should not take laws into our hands but they have turned away while they unleashed terror on us without standing by their words. There should be a law to keep this people in check.
"Farming is our only means of livelihood, we can't steal. What did the government want us to do? We have government, we voted for them and I think it is high time they come to our rescue before things get out of hand.
"Look at this young boy fending for his family now, they have made him handicap for the rest of his life," Alabi lamented.
When National Pilot reporter visited Arewa hospital, it was discovered that Yahya's right hand was still bleeding while the left hand had been stitched.
According to the victim's uncle, the incident has been reported at the state police headquarter as the family awaits justice.
