Residents of Obiaruku community in Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta State were gripped with fear yesterday as eight persons from the community were held hostage for several hours by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Those held hostage, Vanguard reports, were working on a farmland in the community when they were seized around 6 a.m by the suspected herdsmen who reportedly tortured them.
Youth leader of the community, Chika Uwabuofu, said that the captives were later freed at 1 p.m.
Chika said that the herdsmen had told their victims that the reason they were seized and brutalized was that four of their cows were killed and butchered in the neighbourhood.
He said, “For some time now, Fulani herdsmen have been harassing our men and women in their farms, eating the food in their barns and using their cows to destroy their crops.
“On account of this, we have been reporting their activities to the police and a meeting was held by the council chairman, some top government functionaries and the state chairman of the Fulani herdsmen where they were given three days to leave the community.
