The 140,000 hectares of mango farm at Howe, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been gutted by fire.
Confirming the incident on phone on Monday, the Chairman of Gwer.East Local Government Council, Mr. Emmanuel Ortserga, who said the fire started at 2:00pm Saturday, stated that it was an act of sabotage.
According to him, the way the farm is safeguarded makes it difficult to be gutted by fire unless it was intentional.
The council chairman further stated that four persons have been arrested in connection to the incident after a stakeholders meeting which directed that the perpetrators should be apprehended.
He said more than half of the farm was burnt.
Confirming the development, the Director of Fire Service in the state, Engr. Donald Ikyaaza, said he dispatched his men to the farm after the incident was reported and they were able to put out the fire.
“I discharged my men to that place immediately and the portion we met, we were able to put out the fire outrightly,” Ikyaaza said.
He regretted that his men while returning back in the night were attacked by armed robbers who beat them seriously and collected all their handsets.
According to Ikyaaza, “The exact cause of the fire; the men who went there said the people were fighting for compensation for land. Maybe the land was not adequately compensated so that’s why they decided to set fire on the farm.”
The police spokesperson in the state, SP, Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident but said she was not aware if anybody has been arrested in connection to it.
Recall that the former president had intimated during his visit to the farm in November 2019 that it has the capacity of employing over 1,000 people.
