The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South West Zonal Office, Ibadan, has disclosed that the clash between herders and farmers in the Gbenpakan community, Saki West Local Council of Oyo State, claimed ten lives.

NEMA Southwest Coordinator, Mr Kadiri Olanrewaju, said this while briefing stakeholders after an on-the-spot assessment carried out in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to ascertain the level of impact of the clash on the community.

Olanrewaju also disclosed that three people sustained injuries from the clash on August 27, 2024, and noted that the injured are currently receiving treatment in a hospital.

According to him, the conflict stemmed from tensions regarding the use of farmland, with farmers accusing herders of encroaching on their land for grazing purposes.

The NEMA Southwest coordinator said that the council chairman and state government, in conjunction with NEMA, would be giving relief items to victims on Sunday, September 15, 2024.

Expressing sympathy to the affected community, Olanrewaju urged both farmers and herders to live peacefully, noting that the solution to the recurrence of such clashes was to have organised animal rearing.

Receiving the NEMA/SEMA team, the Chairman of Saki West Local Council, Gbenga Akinola, provided a brief overview of the cause of the conflict, explaining that he had held a peace meeting with aggrieved parties to defuse the tension.