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Tag: Herdsmen

  • Anti-grazing law: Hatred for herdsmen provoked killings – Emir of Kano, Sanusi

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, says the Anti-Open Grazing law in Benue state is one-sided and borne out of “hate” for herdsmen.

    According to Sanusi, who also admitted being a patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders, there has not been enough investment in cattle rearing in Nigeria.

    He said this in reaction to the recent killings by herdsmen in parts of the country.

    Sanusi noted that if the government and other stakeholders had taken cattle rearing seriously by building ranches and grazing reserves for herdsmen, the nation would have gained more.

    “I fully support all efforts to attract investment into cattle rearing. This is global best practice. Capital is put into development of ranches and grazing areas, herdsmen settle,” the Emir told Punch.

    “Their cattle are healthier and fatter, they sell milk and milk products and beef, their children go to school and they are economically much better off.

    “This is what we all want. But in Benue and Taraba, the approach has not been one of including and supporting and regulating herdsmen but of isolation and hate.

    “I am happy Governor Lalong of Plateau has publicly stated that he advised Governor Ortom of Benue to tread carefully.

    “I can confirm that I personally spoke to Governor Darius Ishaku before his public hearings on his law and begged him to slow down until he has worked out proper implementation but he refused.”

  • Benue killings: Idea of cattle colony insulting when killers are not arrested – Afenifere

    The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said that the idea of cattle colonies is an insult to Nigerians.

    Addressing reporters on the issue, the Secretary-General of the association, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, expressed disappointment at the way President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government was handling the issue of incessant clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers in some parts of the country with levity.

    According to Afenifere, the crisis that would be created with the creation of cattle colonies would be worse than open grazing system which had been rejected by many Nigerians.

    Arogbofa stated, “The term colony is very insulting when our people are being killed in their 20s and 30s by some armed men and their killers are not arrested.

    “In fact, I don’t know how to describe it. I think they are only playing on words.

    “It is very irritating and insulting to be throwing the idea of cattle colony at us. I think we should do the right thing; we should call a spade a spade.”

  • Again, herdsmen strike in Kaduna, kill 10, injure several others

    Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen went on a fresh rampage in Kaduna State on Friday night killing at least 10 people.

    The herdsmen attacked Dangaji and Ungwan Gajere villages, both in Birni Gwari Local Government Area of the state.

    The attacks lasted all through Friday night to Saturday morning, according to reports from the areas. The invaders set houses ablaze as they retreated.

    Scores of villagers fled into the bush.

    One of the lucky escapees from Dangaji said: “after they penetrated the village, they went to other places and burnt down houses.

    “This morning (Saturday) they went to another village, Kutemechi in Unguwan Gajere where they killed about nine men.”

    The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment.

    However, one of the injured persons reportedly died on the way to the hospital.

    “Right now, all the villagers have fled and scattered in other communities where they can find shelter,” the escapee said.

    It was also gathered that a week ago, no fewer than three persons people were kidnapped in Dangaji village.

    Six million was said to have been paid as ransom for their release.

    Another eyewitness said the hoodlums disappeared before the arrival of military men.

    The Kaduna State Police Command spokesman, ASP Mukhtar Aliyu did not respond to calls put across to him last night.

  • Herdsmen/farmers clashes: Why we are proposing cattle colonies – FG

    The Federal Government has explained the reason for its planned establishment of cattle colonies, saying it is a measure to quickly curb the incessant bloody clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

    Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this when Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau visited him in Abuja.

    Mr Tolu Makinde, the Director, Information, said this on Thursday in a statement by Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa.

    The minister noted that the policy would not transfer communal land ownership to herdsmen wherever it was established.

    Ogbeh was reacting to fears by some citizens that the policy was an attempt by the Federal Government to forcibly collect land from citizens and hand them over to herdsmen.

    He noted that there was no truth in speculations that the government was conspiring to grant supremacy over communal land to herdsmen.

    The minister commended the Plateau Government for its interests in developing agriculture.

    “Cattle colony is not using herdsmen to colonise any state. It is going to be done in partnership with state governments that will like to volunteer land for it.

    “The Federal Government will fund the project and those wishing to benefit from it will pay some fees.

    “While ranching is more of an individual venture for the herdsmen and those wishing to invest in the livestock sector, cattle colonies is a larger project where up to 40 ranchers can share same facility that will be provided by the government at a reduced rate.

    “Already, 16 states have volunteered land,’’ he said.

    The minister said the Federal Government would soon hold a stakeholders’ forum with the herdsmen and other stakeholders on the implementation of the new policy.

    Earlier, Lalong said that he was at the ministry to understand the new policy.

    He said that the state would key into the policy to maintain peace in the state.

    “I happen to be one of the persons that keyed into the ranching policy when it was introduced.

    ‘‘We saw some lands in Plateau and we provided them for the implementation of the policy.

    “The introduction of this policy is of interest to us, that is why we are always here.

    “We also heard about the introduction of another one, that is the cattle colony and I said let me still come back again. We will also key into this policy,’’ he said.

    Recall that Ogbeh had on January 8, disclosed the Federal Government’s plan to establish cattle colonies in the country.

     

     

  • Herdsmen menace: Fayose talks tough, says visitors not wanted in Ekiti from 8pm

    Sequel to the recent killings in some part of the country especial in Benue State by suspected Fulani herdsmen, Governor Ayodele of Ekiti State on Wednesday hosted local hunters at the State House charging them not to entertain strangers after 8pm.

    Sounding the battle cry, the governor said intelligence report available to him revealed that “Bororo” herdsmen had surreptitiously entered the state.

    Fayose, who wore a camouflage shirt, a pair of trousers and a fez cap to match “to reflect the mood of the nation”, urged the hunters to go back home and defend the people.

    Apart from the local hunters, other residents who showed up at the forum were the revered farmers, popularly called the Agbekoya, vigilance groups and other residents from the Tiv, Idoma and Igede ethnic groups in Benue State.

    The event was highlighted by intermittent firing of gunshots, whistling and songs by the hunters.

    Fayose, who sympathised with the people of Benue State, where scores have been killed by suspected herdsmen, promised not to allow his people to be slain, as done in the Northcentral state.

    The governor claimed that the alleged plan to invade Ekiti was to make the state ungovernable for him ahead of the July 14 governorship election.

    He said the situation in Benue and Taraba states showed that “President Buhari lacks the capacity to protect Nigerians”.

    Fayose said: “I have received letters that the Bororos have entered our reserves; they want to violate our laws. I want to call the attention of the Federal Government that they have come and wanted to kill men, women and kids in Ekiti. We will not allow that to happen here in Ekiti.

    “I want you all, our hunters, to go back today to protect your people. Be vigilant, open your eyes and make sure that everybody entering the state is screened.

    “No one in the guise of grazing should enter our land after 8 p.m. For our brothers who harbour criminals, tell them Ekiti is a no-go area. If your plan is to make this state ungovernable, you are wasting your time.

    “I have called this meeting for everyone to be vigilant. I will begin to support you now to secure Ekiti. Don’t let them take you by surprise; don’t allow them to take Ekiti by storm.

    “Go to the farms and keep vigil; don’t just entertain visitors who come in the night. Screen them. We don’t want visitors in our reserves at 8 p.m.”

    He added: “This (camouflage) dressing is done to charge our hunters to secure the state. I saw pictures of the killings (in Benue) and I wonder if those were human beings. I asked the question if people could be that wicked to kill human beings that way. They will find no peace. It is no tribal killings, but that of mindless people.

    “The blood of the departed will find those people and they won’t know peace. It is the duty of the Federal Government to protect its people. We are not protected.

    “We have never had it so bad. People must come to leadership with conscience. The Federal Government should have sent the Army and not the police.

    “Governor (Samuel) Ortom should fasten his belt and protect his people. Those seeking help in Abuja would not find it because Abuja also needs help. I sympathise with you (Benue) people; nobody will kill you. You are all safe here.”

    Fayose gave out telephone hot lines through which people who notice strange movements can call for urgent attention.

  • Benue massacre: IPOB didn’t kill as much as herdsmen before you declared them terrorist, Soyinka lampoons Buhari

    Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Wednesday lambasted the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for not being proactive in curtailing the excesses of herdsmen who recently murdered over sixty people in Benue State.

    The literary icon further stated that the Indigenous People of Biafa, and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu did not perpetuate as much as the herdsmen are flagrantly doing before the Federal Government declared them (IPOB) a terrorist organization.

    Soyinka who was recently under fierce attack for his perceived quietness on the ‘misdeeds’ of the Buhari administration said this in article he titled ‘Impunity rides again’ and released on Wednesday.

    “I am not aware that IPOB came anywhere close to this homicidal propensity and will to dominance before it was declared a terrorist organization.

    “The international community rightly refused to go along with such an absurdity. The conduct of that movement, even at its most extreme, could by no means be reckoned as terrorism. By contrast, how do we categorize Myeti?,” Soyinka said.

    The Nobel Laureate further alleged that President Buhari was handling the Fulani herdsmen killings the way his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan handled the raving Boko Haram crisis back then in 2014.

    In his words: “Yes, Jonathan only saw ‘ghosts’ when Boko Haram was already excising swathes of territory from the nation space and abducting school pupils. The ghosts of Jonathan seem poised to haunt the tenure of Mohammed Buhari.”

    He further recalled that after “a hideous massacre” perpetrated by the herdsmen in 2016, a security meeting was called and the cattle rearers “attended the meeting — according to reports — with AK47s and other weapons of mass intimidation visible under their garments”.

    “They were neither disarmed nor turned back. They freely admitted the killings but justified them by claims that they had lost their cattle to the host community,” he said.

    “Such are the monstrous beginnings of the culture of impunity. We are reaping, yet again, the consequences of such tolerance of the intolerable. Yes, there indeed the government is culpable, definitely guilty of ‘looking the other way’. Indeed, it must be held complicit.”

     

    Reacting to a statement that herdsmen were in defence of their stolen cows, the nobel laureate, said, “How do we assess a mental state that cannot distinguish between a stolen cow – which is always recoverable – and human life, which is not.

    “Villages have been depopulated far wider than those outside their operational zones can conceive. They swoop on sleeping settlements, kill and strut. They glory in their seeming supremacy.”

  • Armed militia confess to Benue state govt. sponsorship – Army

    The Nigeria Army in Takum, Taraba, says it has arrested nine members of a Civilian Joint Task Force over alleged possession of five AK 47 rifles.

    The Spokesperson of the 13 Brigade, Capt. Kayode Owolabi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Calabar.

    According to Owolabi, the suspects were arrested by troops of 93 Battalion deployed to Arufu, a border town between Taraba and Benue.

    “Troops from the 93 Battalion on Monday Jan. 8 disarmed and arrested nine members of an armed militia known as civilian JTF in Taraba with five AK 47 rifles.

    “Before their arrest, reinforcement of Civilian JTF came to prevent the troops from arresting and transporting the suspects to 93 Battalion Headquarters.

    “During preliminary investigation, the suspects claimed that the weapons were issued to them by the Benue State Government. They also confirmed that they were 60 in number in their camp located in Pegie.

    “Additionally, they revealed that the Benue State Government pay them the sum of N60,000 monthly. They further revealed that they were trained by ex-service men and they were brought together from all the localities in Benue State.

    Owolabi said that the suspects were now helping the Army in its investigation before they would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

    He said that the Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Ismaila Isa, had warned that no criminal under any guise would be spared.

    He thanked the public for providing timely and useful information that led to the arrest of the suspects, assuring that the Nigerian Army would continue to collaborate with other security agencies to ensure a peaceful and secure society.

     

  • Herdsmen menace: Breeders’ association laments loss of 200 herders, 2 million cattle

    The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBA) has said it has lost over 200 herdsmen and over 2 million cattle since the herdsmen menace started.

    The Secretary-General of MACBA, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, stated this while speaking on Channels Television Sunrise Daily programme today.

    “The herdsmen who are seen as peaceful people before this time, today, because of the negative profiling, and because of the political undertone that is attached to the crisis, everybody is seeing the herdsman as a criminal,” Mr. Ngelzarma said.

    As regards the incidence in Benue state, he said “We value the lives of our members; every life in Nigeria is valuable. We also have our share of these killings”.

    “Today we have lost over 2 million cattle in Nigeria as a result of cattle rustling. Who are the owners of those cattle? They are the herdsmen. The herdsmen are not spared by the security on the highway. The herdsman is not spared by the religious and political colouration of the crisis.

    “The herdsman, the cow to him, is all he has. His entire life and that of his family is dependent on the cow. He lives in the forest with his wealth that is the cow.

    “If he has any money, he lives in that forest with the money he has; he lives in the forest with his children, and wife, and everybody. So, no matter how daft that person is, you cannot expect to go and provoke trouble for him to get killed”.

    He went further to say “All these senseless killings must stop; either from the pastoralists or from the communities”.

     

  • Why herdsmen attacked Benue communities- leader speaks

    Why herdsmen attacked Benue communities- leader speaks

    A leader of Miyetti Allah cattle breeders in Benue State Garus Gololo has disclosed that herdsmen attacked some communities in the state as reprisal for alleged theft of cows.

    Herdsmen had attacked communities in Guma and Logo local government areas of the state between Monday, January 1 and Tuesday, January 2, leaving at least 20 dead.

    Speaking to BBC Pidgin, Gololo explained that the herdsmen were only defending themselves from ”thieves.”

    The herdsman claimed that over 1000 cows were stolen at Nengere, a community in the state, when the herdsmen were moving out of Benue to Taraba state.

    Gololo said: “As we dey relocate go Taraba State through Nassarawa State, for border town of Nengere, thief come collect 1000 cows from us, so we sef fight dem back.”

    He revealed that the crisis broke out while the herdsmen were trying to protect and defend themselves and their property.

  • 11 killed in fresh Benue attack

    11 killed in fresh Benue attack

    Suspected herdsmen on yesterday killed 11 persons in a fresh attack on Tombu village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

    The state governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, confirmed the renewed killings shortly after an emergency meeting with the joint socio-cultural groups in the state.

    “Two days back, four persons were killed in Guma Local Government, and this has continued,” he said.

    Governor Ortom commended the heavy presence of the police as well as the military in the state in a bid to prevent a reoccurrence of such incident.

    He, however, lamented that more than 40,000 people have been displaced for fear of unprovoked attacks.

    “We appreciate the fact that now we have the massive presence of the police, we have an additional deployment of the military.

    “They are on ground and deployment is being done; we are also providing logistics to ensure that these do not continue. As at now, over 40,000 people have been displaced and we are still counting.”

    Meanwhile, the police are yet to confirm the attack.

    Socio-cultural groups in Benue have also challenged the leadership of the Nigeria Police to visit Tombu village to be sure that the series of attacks carried out in the state were beyond communal crises as claimed.

    Spokespersons for the group and President General of Mzough U-Tiv, Mr Edward Ujege, called on the United Nations and the international community to come to the rescue of Benue indigenes.

    “Benue people are law-abiding and have remained so even in the face of frequent armed provoked attack by the herdsmen.

    “We want any assistance from anywhere in the world to avert the killings in Benue State. And we are calling on the United Nations, United States, European Union, African Union, and any other person to come to our aids,” Ujege said.

    Tombu village was attacked barely 24 hours after the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the killings in Benue, Rivers and other parts of the country.

    Mr Idris had told State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja that the police were working hard to address the issues.

    He attributed the crises to communal misunderstanding in the affected communities and maintained that “Nigeria is well secured”.