Fulani herdsmen have held clandestine meetings in Nigeria and abroad, to concretise plans to visit mayhem and genocide on the people of Benue State.
Principal socio-cultural organisations in Benue, made up of Mdzough U Tiv Forum, Idoma National Forum and Omi Ny Igede Forum stated this at the weekend, in Nasarawa State, when they paid a courtesy visit to the Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Mustapha Agwai.
They seized the opportunity to stress the need to support the Anti-open Grazing law of the state.
Leader of the delegation and President, Mdzough U Tiv forum, Chief Edward Ujege said the plot is multi-directional and it is aimed at simultaneously invading Benue from every angle so that there would be no escape for the defenceless people.
“We were reliably informed that already, there is a mass gathering of cattle and militia men at Kungwa in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa state. We are deeply concerned that these alleged preparations to invade Benue, with large mass of cattle and militia, is to truncate take-off of the anti-open grazing law scheduled for November 1, 2017.
“We believe the plan is to make the law un-enforceable and create anarchy within Benue state. This invariably could lead to conflicts between farmers and herdsmen, as a result of intrusion into farms by the herdsmen and their cattle,” he said
Ujege further told the emir that the people of Benue had, in the past, paid dearly for the atrocities of the herdsmen, with lives of over 2,000 men, women and children. “Till date, over 500 persons are still missing while more than half a million people are displaced. The future of almost a million youths has been truncated. Similarly, over 900 households were affected in various attacks carried out by the herdsmen, while properties worth over N95billion were destroyed in 2014 alone. Yet, not one single person has been arrested or prosecuted for these dastardly acts
“As a result of these developments, farming in Benue has become difficult as our people could hardly go to their farms for fear of the mindless killers. Benue can almost no longer be called the food basket of the nation because of the atrocities of the herdsmen,” he said.
He appealed to the emir to halt the invasion of the Fulani herdsmen.
In his response, the emir said incessant attacks between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nasarawa and Benue states were beyond the control of the traditional rulers in the state to handle.
He, however, said the government of Benue state should collaborate with that of Nasarawa to look into the issue of planned attacks and how it should be handled, and added that he lacks the powers to address it.
Meanwhile, the leadership Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has described as untrue, claims by Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, that Fulani pastoralists have concluded plans to invade the state, in demonstration of their discontent with the anti-open grazing law.
At a press conference in Abuja, at the weekend, National Coordinator of the association, Alhaji Garus Gololo, called for extension of the implementation time, as it would enable the government and herders resolve some grey areas in the law. He, however, did not disclose the duration of the extension needed.
“What the government has promised is only the pivot ranches where all arrested cattle would be kept for a time after which it would be sold…”
Gololo regretted that the law had placed certain responsibilities on the part of herders which were difficult to fulfill within the timeframe provided for its implementation.
” For instance, we are expected to ranch our cattle, but a typical ranch involves the construction of schools for the children of the nomads, a veterinary clinic, borehole for its water supply, electricity and adequate space for the cattle to graze within the ranch.
” At the moment, what the government has promised is only the pivot ranches where all arrested cattle would be kept for a time after which it would be sold.”
Barring any last minute change, anti-open grazing law will come into effect in the state on November 1st. The state government believe that the law will bring an end to incessant clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the state.
The National President of the association, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, told Journalists in Abuja that the law was unacceptable to the herdsmen and they would not comply with it, though not violently.
He said: “Being law abiding citizens of Nigeria, we would not go wild but will use all available legal means to compel the state government to withdraw the law, because it is a threat to our culture, heritage and socio-economic lives.
“The governor thought he could use threat and blackmail to intimidate us, but that had failed woefully. He knew he was committing illegality by trying to deny us means of livelihood, hence his call for our arrest to cover his veiled hatred for the Fulani people.
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the association, Alhassan Saleh, has advocated establishment of Ministry of Livestock, as a solution to several identified challenges in livestock related business, which he said, contribute 30 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Ministry, he said, will identify grazing reserves, develop the needed infrastructure there, run pilot ranches, bring in new breed of livestock that would suit Nigerian weather and also create additional value in the livestock business.
He added: “Every important market in the northern Nigeria has its nexus in the livestock business. It is also important to mention that 90 percent of meat that is consume in Nigeria is provided by the herdsmen. It is a big industry that could transform the economic fortune of Nigeria if good policies and programmes are put in place.
|Sun