Problematic pastoralists under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has described the recent proscription of open grazing by state governors of Southern Nigeria as an empty policy.
Fifteen out of seventeen state helmsmen from the South-West, South-East and South-South geo-political zones met on Tuesday and resolved to prohibit open grazing.
The governors while asking President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on what his regime is doing to tackle worsening state of insecurity bedeviling the nation, described open grazing as outdated.
Their resolution did not augur well with the violent herdsmen residing across forest reserves across the Southern protectorate.
Testimonials from kidnapped victims among others have indicted herdsmen of masterminding nefarious activities, particularly insecurity in the Southern regions. This has elicited eviction notices from state and non-state actors to the violent herders while a Northern state governor rose to justify the herders’ action.
In an interview with Sahara Reporters, the national secretary of the cattle breeding body, Alhassan Saleh, said the resolve of the state governors shows they are confused.
Mr Saleh rather than elucidate further misfired and exenorated the violent herdsmen of being behind the country’s woes.
“The governors are confused and mischievous, are herders the problem of this country?” he queried. “Are they Biafra people killing people up and down, burning police stations?
“They are confused, or are they not confused? If they can’t address the terrorist activities being perpetrated by Nnamdi Kanu (leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra) and his Igbo terrorist group called IPOB, I think they are really confused, if they are not confused, then they are mischievous.
“Is there anything like secret grazing? Let the governors go ahead to continue instigating their mobs to keep killing herdsmen. Can they comply with an empty policy? Where are the ranches?
“Are herdsmen the problem of this country? Are they the ones looting the treasury? They should leave the herders alone. They should stop killing innocent herders,” he added.
