Some firefighters deployed to contain a fire outbreak at a farm belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Howe village, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, were attacked by robbers after putting out the fire.
In a chat with Daily Trust, Director of the State Fire Service, Engr. Donald Ikyaaza, narrated how his men were brutalised.
He said some persons who had demanded compensation for the land are suspected to have carried out the act.
“I discharged my men to that place immediately and the portion we met, we were able to put out the fire outrightly. In fact, my men while coming back in the night, armed robbers caught them, beat them seriously and collected all their handsets so that was the compensation we got for fighting fire at Obasanjo’s farm.”
“As for the exact cause of the fire; the men who went there said the people were fighting for compensation for the land. Maybe the land was not adequately compensated so that’s why they decided to set fire on the farm. That’s the only information I got from them. Not all the farm was burnt. Some trees are still there, the seeds were saved,” he said.
Chairman of the Gwer East LGA, Emmanuel Ortserga, said the fire was a deliberate attempt, stressing that four arrests had been made.
Ortsega said the fire started at 2pm on Saturday while the manager of the farm was away to Otukpo town.
He said a total of 139 hectares of the farm space, more than half of the farm was burnt, pointing out that except for mischief, the farm couldn’t have been engulfed by inferno.
The chairman added that a meeting of stakeholders had been called to address the matter, even as he assured that more arrests would be made.
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident but said she had no details yet about the arrests.
When, in 2019, the ex-president visited the mango farm with capacity to employ at least 1000 personnel, it had 40 workers in its employ.
Obasanjo had, during the visit and inspection of the farm, assured that the mango trees would start bearing fruits in four years.
