…laments President’s inaction on herdsmen crisis
A member of the Senate representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Tolulope Odebiyi, on Wednesday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take an immediate action against killer herdsmen in the country.
Odebiyi made this request while speaking during plenary on Wednesday, lamenting the influx of criminal herdsmen into Nigeria from neighbouring countries.
According to the lawmaker, “It is an indictment on our leadership that people are coming into Nigeria to rape, maim and kill our people. It is upsetting and we must rise to this occasion. I rise that the President need to speak and calm the nation.
“The President can sign an Executive Order banning open grazing. There are actions that he can take immediately but nothing is being done.”
Senator Odebiyi’s constituents in Ogun West have lately come under attacks by suspected herdsmen with some farmers in the area slaughtered by Fulani herders, who also drove away many farmers and occupied their farms with their cattle.
Also, the South-West region has lately been under the grips of killer herdsmen who rape, kidnap indigenes for ransom and destroy farmlands, which they often set on fire whenever they are prevented from grazing their cattle on them.
Many Nigerians, including Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, had earlier advised President Buhari to address Nigerians on the raging matter and declare publicly that he’s not in support of the criminal activities of some herdsmen in parts of the country.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, also recently called for the enactment of a law banning the movement of cattle by herdsmen from the North to the Southern part of the country in order to prevent the incessant herdsmen-farmers clashes rocking parts of the country.
But Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari would be a talkative if he speaks on every matter, including the herdsmen crisis.
Although the Senate did not include Odebiyi’s motion in its resolutions, the upper chamber, however, observed a minute silence in honour of all victims of insurgency, banditry, herdsmen-farmers’ clashes, and other security challenges.
It, however, resolved to “urge the State Governors to re-invigorate rural governance and convene state-wide inter-communal conclaves and dialogues to promote local conflict resolution and inter-ethnic harmony.”
The lawmakers also “urge the Federal Government to immediately embark on an operation to checkmate proliferation of firearms and enforce the laws against illegal possession of firearms by arresting, disarming and punishing anyone in illegal possession of arms.”
The Senate further called on “the State Governors to implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan which is a modern scheme designed to eliminate transhumance in order to prevent farmer-herder conflicts and activate highly productive livestock sector in Nigeria.”