Former Nigerian President Obasanjo’s 2,420 hectare farm set on fire

At Howe hamlet in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue state, alleged hoodlums burned down an orchard farm belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The incident occurred on Saturday, Jan. 29, when the farm’s manager, Zubello Muhamed, was out of the area for an official assignment, according to the report.

Residents allege the fire started as a result of a dispute with the locals over compensation for a piece of land that had previously belonged to the state government.

Mr Emmanuel Ortsega, the Chairman of the Gwer East Local Government, confirmed the occurrence and said it was a case of hoodlums deliberately sabotaging the project.

He said: “The fire on the farm was started at about 2 pm on Saturday by hoodlums and nearly half of it is gone. It was clearly a sabotage.

“It was strange that there was fire outbreak in the farm because the farm was properly safeguarded, so it was obvious that it was sabotage.

“We summoned a meeting of stakeholders and leaders over the matter in order to fish out the perpetrators and by the grace of God we have already apprehended four persons and investigation is still ongoing to fish out more culprits.”

Source: naijaonpoint