Aggrieved by the destruction of their crops and farm lands by suspected herdsmen, about 3,000 women in Ebonyi State on Friday staged a peaceful protest to the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, HRH Ezego Moses Ngele.

The women, mostly elderly farmers are demanding that the herdsmen leave their community.

They chanted solidarity songs and brandished green leaves as they urged the traditional ruler to prevail the herdsmen to stop using their cattle to destroy their crops.

Spokesperson for the group, Janet Aja, said if urgent action is not taken, the farmers will be left with nothing, alleging that they are unable to go to their farms for fear of being attacked.

According to her, “The women are in your palace to inform you that our crops and farm lands are destroyed daily by cattle rearers and that we no longer go to our farms for fear of being attacked, raped or killed.

“Our rice, yams, cassava and other crops in our farms have all been destroyed and eaten up by their cattle.

“We demand urgent action from you as the community father to end the indiscriminate destruction of crops and farm lands by these foreigners.

“We don’t want the killings and destruction we hear that happen in other communities between them and farmers to happen in our own community.”

“We hope that your Majesty will handle this situation by providing a lasting solution to the menace otherwise the women of this community will protest naked at Government House in Abakaliki, ” she added.

Azeez