Ondo hunters: Eight elephants attacked us, we killed and ate one

As controversies continue to trail the killing of an elephant in Idanre, Ondo State, the local hunter who led the killing claimed that the animal was killed to save the lives and properties of the people of the community. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, who visited the community, writes on his findings.

“These elephants will come in the night, destroying farms and houses. On this fateful day, I was called that a group of elephants, numbering about eight, had invaded the farms of some residents at Janiyi Village. I rushed there and lo and behold, we met about eight elephants, already charging and running after the residents of the village.” That was how Ojo Adaralode opened his account of the community’s encounter with some elephants a few days ago.

In the last few days, the news of the killing of an elephant by in Janiyi Village, Idanre in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State, spread like a wild fire and has gone viral on the social media, becoming a subject  of discourse across the world. The killing, which some people perceived to be a risky, difficult task, was carried out by 57-year-old local hunter, Adaralode, who said his action was a patriotic act to defend his people against attacks by elephants that had frequently been straying into and destroying the village and six other adjourning villages.

To some people and residents of the affected communities, the killing was a great relief because of what they had suffered in the past and the havoc wreaked on their farmland and the killing of some residents by the elephants in recent time. Adaralode, who is the head hunter and president of the Hunters Association in Idanre Local Government Area, explained that the killing of the elephant was not deliberate but it was done in self-defence.

Speaking with Saturday Tribune, Adaralode said elephants from the thick forest surrounding the community had been visiting the affected villages in the area for some time. The invading elephants, he said, had been destroying their mud houses, farmlands and injuring residents.

He further said the elephants sometimes ago, sacked the residents of one of the villages, while a number of the farmers relocated to a new place.

The hunter, who has become a hero among the villagers, said leaders of the six communities, including Alawo  Ekun, Atupa,  Ayinuola, Blessing, Ago Taylor and Nirowi, sought the help of local hunters to wade off the animals, following their frequent invasion of their communities, as many of the residents had been rendered homeless. He explained that many houses had been destroyed by the animals that usually invaded the community in the night, apparently looking for what to eat. He added that the animals had, however, become more daring, coming into the villages during day time and gradually sacking the affected communities and their residents.

“These elephants would come in the night, destroying farms and houses. On this fateful day, I was called that a group of elephants, numbering about eight, had invaded the farms of some residents at Janiyi Village. I rushed there and lo and behold, we met about eight elephants, already charging and running after the residents of the village.

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“A farmer/ hunter, who sighted the elephants on his farm and raised the alarm, was surrounded by the animals. He tried to shoot into the air to scare them away, but the animals surrounded him, trampled on him and, in the process, destroyed his gun. The young hunter is still lying critically ill in a hospital here in Idanre.

“Apart from the young man, no fewer than eight members of the community were said to have sustained varying degree of injuries during the stampede, which lasted more than three hours, before one of the elephants was hit by the bullets of the hunters who shot sporadically to scare away the animals.

“We shot into the air several times to scare the elephants away, but our efforts yielded no result and one of the elephants was shot in the process. The other elephants tried to protect one of their own that was injured. They dragged it from the scene, even when they noticed the wounded elephant, a female, had given up the ghost but eventually they all left without it,” Adaralode said.

The chief hunter said the people of the communities had been living in fear for months as the group of elephants kept visiting the communities. He said all efforts to keep away the animals from the communities yielded no result. He, therefore, solicited help from the government and the relevant agencies to come to the aid of the people of the agrarian communities saying many of the residents have stopped going to the farm.

“Government should try and capture these animals. We have other animals here, we have lions and leopards in this thick forest and people are scared to live in these villages now,” he said.

However, the home of the 57-year-old hunter in Idanre has been turned to a Mecca of sort, as people from various adjourning communities have been thronging his house to confirm the development. Saturday Tribune reporter who visited the home of the hunter did not leave the house empty handed as he was offered a chunk of the elephant meat.

Speaking in the same vein, the Ode-Ekun of Idanreland, Smart Oguntimehin, corroborated Adaralode’s claim on the invasion of the affected communities by the elephants and also sought for government’s assistance in helping to ward off the animals from these areas. Oguntimehin explained that a young farmer, who was working on his farm, noticed the arrival of the animals and tried to chase them out of the farm, adding, “But before he could bring himself together, the animals started charging at him and trampled on him until he became unconscious.

“Cruelty to animals is a crime and we cannot take the law into our hands. But we must guide against the killing of our people. We have to protect our lives; human lives are involved and we call on relevant authorities and bodies to come to our aid in bringing these animals under control.”

Saturday Tribune visited one of the farmers/hunters who was injured during the attack at a hospital where he was receiving treatment, but he was too weak to talk. However, some residents of the ancient town, who spoke on this issue, blamed wildlife officials in the state for giving little or no attention to controlling the animals from getting into people’s homes while coming out from the thick forest in the area.

One of the respondents said the Forest Reserves housed many wild animals, apart from elephants, accusing the authorities of having failed to deploy wildlife rangers to team up with the villagers to capture the rampaging animals.

He said the situation was becoming more worrisome as the elephants now see human beings as their enemies, warning residents of the area to stop farming in the wildlife corridors and to steer clear of the animals, saying the animals would definitely be back. Warning the residents not to sleep with their two eyes closed, he said the elephants would soon mobilise themselves to attack the people, adding, “these animals are intelligent and hardly forget things. They will be back to revenge.”

A scholar from the Department of Ecotourism and Wild Life of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Professor Ilesanmi Adeyemo, however frowned at the development and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the man who killed the elephant. The university lecturer said elephants are one of the species of animals that are on the verge of extinction and should be protected.

“What that man did is illegal and he should be arrested and tried because almost all the elephants in the area have been killed illegally. I don’t think we have up to 15 elephants in the whole of Nigeria and we are seriously looking for a way to conserve them. So, for someone to go and kill an elephant, he should be arrested,” he said.

Professor Adeyemo described Adaralode’s claim on the attack by the elephants as a white lie, noting that “elephants rarely attack people and I will not believe he killed the animal to defend himself or his people.”

He, however, said some steps should be taken to protect the elephants in the area, adding, “If we are sure the elephants are there, we can make efforts to fence the place to keep them away from danger and if government can spend millions of naira to protect these animals, to ensure that people who come from other parts of the world visit there to see the animals in their natural habitat, anybody who kills the animals should face the wrath of the law. Killing of that elephant is a loss to the country because we don’t have up to 10 in the whole of Nigeria.”

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