The umbrella body of cattle
herders in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association has given the
Benue State government conditions for stopping the killing and clashes with
farmers in the state.
The cattle breeders said the
state Government must revisit and modify the anti-grazing bill for peace to
return to communities in the state.
Speaking with Punch on Monday,
the Secretary-General of the association, Usman Ngelzerma said the approach
taken by the government was unacceptable.
Ngelzerma said, “I like the Benue
State governor. He is a peace-loving person but is working on wrong advice. The
approach he took is wrong. You cannot change the way of life of a people like
the way you turn off a light switch.
“We don’t wish for the crisis to
continue but let us give it (the law ) another look. We don’t like the
killings; we will never condone the killing of people. Give the farmers their
rights but consider the pastoralists too.”
He accused the Miyetti Allah
Kautal Hore, which supported the then President Goodluck Jonathan in the
build-up to the 2015 election, as being at loggerheads with the Benue State
Government.
Ngelzerma said that the fighting
between the herdsmen and the livestock guards led to the January 1 killings in
five communities in the Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state in
which over 20 persons were murdered.
He added, “The livestock guards
have constituted themselves to the police and the court at the same time. They
impose penalties on herdsmen, fine them huge sums of money before releasing
them. That was the situation before this crisis erupted.
“I was told that shortly before
this crisis, the guards went to make some arrests in a particular community and
they met stiff resistance from the Fulani because they were already tired of
the persistent harassment from the guards, not the police or the DSS, army or
constituted authority.
“This was what led to the
violence and unnecessary deaths that followed which we do not condone.”
The breeder further called on the
National Assembly to quickly pass the Grazing Reserve Bill into law.
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