Former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and other former governors met with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) yesterday to look into solutions to the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria.
During the meeting held in Abuja, the stakeholders insisted that farmers must benefit from enabling environment to be provided by the federal government.
“We are requesting the government provide an enabling environment that is a sustainable livestock production reform. If herdsmen can agree to a modern system of livestock production, there is a need for settlement, and the settlement requires land, and after being resettled, there are other services provided to the communities of herdsmen,” Daily Trust quoted Ganduje saying at the meeting.
According to him, when he was a sitting governor in Kano, he organized a national conference that came up with a blueprint that would soon be presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In his remark, a former Bauchi State governor, Malam Isa Yuguda, raised concerns about herdsmen carrying AK-47 rifles to defend themselves and some who he said were using such weapons for criminal offences.
He also noted how cattle routes and grazing areas had been taken over as a result of the growing population and blamed the government for inaction.
At least fifteen suspected Fulani herders were reportedly killed barely a week ago in an attack in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.
According to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), a militia invaded their communities during the weekend and killed their people.
The Fulani herders’ association also alleged that Operation Rainbow, a state security outfit, carried out the attack.
Speaking on the incident, Plateau State chairman of the group, Nuru Abdullahi, told journalists in Jos, the state capital, that at least 78 houses belonging to their members were burnt by the armed group.
It said at least 2,000 cattle belonging to its members were still missing after the invasion.
“On the invasion of Fulani communities in villages of Mangu, we have recovered 15 bodies killed on Friday. About 78 houses were burnt down. Cattle numbering 2,000 are still missing. This unfortunate thing is moving its head quickly into other LGAs of the state to annihilate Fulani completely in the state,” Abdullahi told Daily Trust.
He further alleged a fresh plan to attack their communities by suspected militias.
“There is an intelligence report that there are trained militias recruited and brought to fight and chase all Fulani out of Plateau State in the name of crisis. Therefore, at this point, we are still calling on the federal government to as a matter of urgency put a stop to what is happening in Mangu LGA.
“They should take immediate action before things go out of hand. We are soliciting the FG to take necessary action so that things will not go out of hand. We will not continue watching people killing us and destroying our properties,” the MACBAN chairman said.
OsunDailyNG reports that there have been a series of attacks in Mangu and other communities of the state recently.
