By Tola Gbadamosi & Adeboye Ado

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A thunderstrike on Sunday reportedly killed eight cows in Ori-Ohin community of Ifon in Ose Local Government aea of Ondo State.

The Hope gathered that many residents believed that the thunderstrike might have been spiritual retribution for continued trespassing on farmland that had long been plagued by cattle invasion.

According to reports, the land in question had been allocated to Ebira-speaking farmers from Kogi State.

However, their efforts to cultivate the land have frequently been hampered by the destruction caused by free-roaming cows.

A resident who pleaded anonymity confirmed the incident and accused the herders of consistently violating the state’s anti-open grazing law by allowing their animals to roam and damage crops.

He noted that after repeated complaints to security agencies yielded little result, the affected farmers decided to take spiritual action to protect their land.

“It seems the sacrifice offered by the farmers led to the thunderstrike that killed the cows. Their crops had been destroyed too many times,” he said.

A representative of the traditional ruler in the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, echoed similar sentiments, stating that the herders had ignored repeated warnings to keep off farmlands in line with the state’s 2021 grazing regulation law.

“We were about to begin our morning prayers when news broke that thunder had killed eight cows.

“It’s unfortunate, but the herders have continued to flout the law prohibiting open grazing,” he demurred.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, Olushola Alayande, described the thunderstrike as a natural occurrence.