Our Farm Attacked Again With Biological Weapon By Our Host Community (Video)

After the second consecutive attack on our farm and I finally decided to find time to make an official report at the police station, a piece of advice the DPO gave after being briefed about our case keep ringing on my head, his words were "Mr. Oludipe, I've read your statement and I can feel how much labour you've poured into your project and the least expected is the current happening but you have to ensure that you don't take laws into your hand once the perpetrators are caught because it's dangerous to you and your project" which I replied with, Sir, it will only take the Grace of God for me not to take laws into my hand especially if the person is caught red handed then he smiled and truly, it took the Grace of God for me not to respond after the recent biological attack on our farm.

For those who has not been following, here is the link to the initial attacks https://www.nairaland.com/7411904/could-reason-why-farm-poisoned and the series of recent attacks started probably on the 25th of December 2022 and it was a planned attack. They made sure I had left the ranch for Christmas, their village is just by the main and only road and they knew my car and could also confirm if I am on the farm since I'm the only one that currently works here aside the fact that they are our neighbors next to us and could really get close and even sneak in closer to observe our far from a few distance without being noticed, that was the ploy used when our farm was first poisoned and our only crime is our animal graze on their farm.

initially I believed they are going to be asset and thought good things about them as I even plan for the farm, with solar powered irrigation, I've imagined how our irrigation system will power our farm and their for them to remain in business especially since they are pepper farmers and earns every 5 days but only during the rainy season while they're mostly jobless in dry season. But the truth is after I got closer to them, I see how massive their envy and jealous is. They are 3 in number, one Yoruba who happens to be their leader and two cotonue boys, their leader was born in 1985 (inscription from his stomach) while the two boys should be from mid 90s. They specialises in killing, kidnapping and murdering animals that grazes on their farmland but the community is getting wider and livestock are having access to farmland that are closer and while some close lands are being used to plant cocoa which income comes like twice in year, they are perennial farmers, plant corn, pepper and some tubers. Pepper for instance can be picked and sold every 5 days for 6months - 7months and that's having more than enough money to run a family, do village big boy and smoke some Igbo steadily.

So I approached them, apologize for the encroachment of their land, requested for what to pay which they turns dow, told them about our current difficulties, begged them to be patience as we solve those difficulties and promised to settle them better as we've started settling every farmers from the proceed of logs of wood that we have. at that time, we have over 5 acres of land under a very thick forest with over an half a million naira estimate in terms of the firewood. There are 3 farmers in close proximity and settling everyone of them with good amount from the log proceed is never a problem.

So fast forward to the recent attack, I left the farm on the 24th December 2022 at around 9:15pm, reason is to ensure that my car is not seen because I envisage the attack after our animals graze again on their farm. We are in the height of dry season and we don't have a fodder yet while we can't also keep them on dried cassava peels. The shee all that had already pregnant and had never graze outside our farm are left to graze everyday while the goats graze once in every 3 days just to help their rumen remain in good ph. But to goats, plants like cassava leaves smells like the way jollof rice would smell to human. After they finished the cassava leaves on our farmland I reduced their grazing to once a week and it's always monitored, I go out with them and ensure they don't leave my sight but they are not satisfied, I never knew they've pulled a prison break on me until after the 3 day so they've grazed 2 full day outside the guided perimeter without knowing until my attention was called that they are grazing outside and i have to look closer at their house and blocked the exit. I went to see our neighbors on the 23rd December 2022, begged them, asked for what we should pay which the insisted nothing and reiterate on the logs we intend to settle everyone but forgiveness is not in their book which made me understand that there is more to their action beyond the plant that was grazed on.

None of the animals were sick before I left but by the time I came back on the evening of 26th December 2022 after spending nights consecutively with my family for the first time since August 26th that we've been here, I resumed to sick animals, a pregnant nursing mother sheep and a weaned young ram. They are just unable to walk and I thought it was because they haven't grazed since straight 48hrs because I left a strict warning never to let loose the animals while I left enough food both cassava peels and formulated feed.

And by the morning of 27th, they are dead. Both! But we are still in the mood of celebration, I palm it, processed both, the matured was roasted and the baby for our dogs. Not until the death toll reaches 4 with the same style of death starting from disoriented walk to loss of appetite, inability to walk then bloat and death. I sat to tackle the initial sickness that resembles listeriosis (lack of calcium), called our feed supplier and told me it's not from the feed, he had the courage to say so after the death toll reaches 4 and I believed because he's a professional and I've also gave them calcium gluconate injection, then the next that came to my mind is why would a bloat not go? I've rescued more than 4 animals since we came and by the following day they are ok so why would a bloat automatically leads to death? So I thought of post mortem.

All these animals are healthy before I left, we are in the dry season and there are hardly bloat causing plant so something else is affecting the rumen so I went to check where I emptied the rumen of the recent animal and viola I saw the foreign object that blocks the rumen and put more weight on their lover body that then causes the disoriented walking before finally bloating which is the last stage before death. A circle that leads to death no matter what I do to save them.

I knew it was an attack and since it's the only sheep that are the victim because they are allowed to graze outside, I thought about checking their grazing route and by the time the death toll reaches 7 with the same death pattern and even after they are no longer allowed. to graze outside I knew the it's their house and viola I saw 2 of the bait. A twine cut into pieces and knotted them soaked. Twine are fibres, ruminants likes fibers and the oil makes it more palatable in their mouth till the swallow and get stuck in their stomach.

Now our flock has reduced, to just 3 animals, a mother, a child and a father (ram). I was calling places to keep them just to save them but no one is available then I said to myself tonight, I'll be watching over them disrespect of how tired I would be, but my spirit says no I shouldn't because it's not as if I don't know the perpetrators but the thought sounds foolish and I discarded it, I brace up myself but the thought still coming back and I keep discarding it so I went to bed earlier, set my alarm and started thinking about best place to stay till it's 3am when cock crow then I stood up and was led to a portion at the back of the goat house close to the boundary river, as I laid carefully, that thought came again and said "you're making a mistake, this is not your battle and if you fight it you will loose", I asked why and the spirit said the perpetrator would never have expected me to be around least alone have cutlass with me and by the time I caught him i wont be able to curtail my anger and a single strike is all it takes rubbish all my efforts, labor and dreams about the project and also probably be behind bars then the DPO will remind me of his fatherly words we had in his office. It was the Grace I asked for that was speaking to me since the moment I conceived the thought to catch the perpetrator.

At about 4:15am, January 11 Wednesday 2023 after being in trance for almost 40 minute, the person came, saw our dogs by the river, chased them as they came to our land, never knew they followed me and he also crossed to our land, heads straight to the back of the goat house and within few seconds, he's back to the river, wet his pepper and left.

Now when he crossed and heads to the goat house, the spirit that was talking to me was silent, I had an option of turning on the light and I wanted to but my heart raced into other few actions that would have followed after switching on the lamp, I'll have stood up, held the machete and swing from his neck downward to his chest and that would have been the end. I saw it but Grace withered my whole body from acting. When he went back to the river to water the pepper that same spirit asked again " is this who you wanted to be fighting?, is this who you would have risk aborting the project for?" I said no, he is not worth it, nothing is worth it.

I stood up minutes after he left, heads to the goat house but sadly the last mother sheep has eaten the knotted twine he three bringing the total victim of the biological attack on our farm to 9 pregnant sheep and a ram.

At the moment, we have completed our irrigation casting and covered the are with chainlink net. Here is the video of our irrigation system