Herdsman assaults, rapes teenager in Ebonyi

A Fulani herdsman has been arrested for assaulting and raping a 14-year-old girl at Umuifi community, Anioma-Isu Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi on Monday.

The victim is a student of the Union Secondary School, Ague-Isu.

According to her, she went to farm to get vegetables when she was stopped by a herdsman whose cows were browsing in the area.

“He asked me for water and food, which I said I did not have,’ she narrated while receiving treatment after the incident.

The herdsman then got more cows to surround the girl, probably to scare her.

“He said if I allowed him to have sex with me, he would give me N700. I refused and started running away. He chased me and used the back of his cutlass to attack me. He then raped me,’ she said, appealling to government for help.

“Young girls are no longer safe to go the farm to help their parents. The man should be prosecuted,” she added.

The chairman of Anioma-Isu community, Festus Nwachukwu, cinfirmed the assault. He also described the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Umuifi Anioma-Isu community as a threat to the agricultural revolution of the state.

“Although the suspect has been arrested by operatives of the state police command, this act is an abomination; we are going to cleanse our land,” he said.

“Fulani herdsmen are destroying our farms. If you want to talk to them, they will threaten you with knives. Our major occupation is farming; we can no more farm because of them.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer Lovet Odah said she had yet to be briefed on the incident.