Villagers not herdsmen caused the gridlock in Edo State

The gridlock witnessed last weekend after Okada in Edo State while heading towards Ore in Ondo State, was reportedly caused by villagers and not herdsmen. 

Recall a social media user who shared a video from the scene of the incident, claimed  some suspected Fulani herdsmen laid siege for commuters. He was heard saying in the viral video; 

“The machetes Fulani herdsmen carried were more than 200. They have blocked the road, nobody can help us. We have been here since 6am, nobody can pass. Even police and soldiers can’t pass. We are stranded,” he said.

“They have killed about 10 people here now. They just carried about two corpses here now. This is an emergency, we need help. Fulani herdsmen have killed the villagers, they are still hiding inside the bushes.”

However its been gathered that villagers and not Fulani herdsmen caused the gridlock which lasted for three hours on Saturday February 22. 

TheCable reported that the protest was sparked off by the corpse of a villager identified as Adebayo Abudu, which was found by the police days after he was kidnapped. Eyewitnesses revealed that the family of the deceased seized the corpse while it was being taken to the morgue for autopsy, and subsequently laid it on the highway in protest over his death. 

The gridlock was however cleared after a combined team of policemen and soldiers stormed the scene of the incident.