President Muhammadu Buhari has advised herdsmen on what to do pertaining to the call for their relocation from the southern part of the country.
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) backed by Northern Elders Forum (NEF) had called for the relocation of herdsmen in the protectorate.
Their decision to recall the herders was hinged on the reactions that greeted the federal government’s decision to establish Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) for the pastoralists.
Reacting to the call by the group, the president through his spokesman, Garba Shehu, advised herdsmen to disregard the order as they were constitutionally allowed to reside where ever they wished to within the nation.
“No one has the right to ask anyone or group to depart from any part of the country, whether North, South, East or West,” Shehu quoted his principal as saying, in a statement.
“They have no one’s authority to make such pronouncements.
“The polarising role of the Northern Elders Forum and all those other groups dabbling into issues of security to score cheap political points has for long been a sore point in Nigeria’s body polity.
“They should not be allowed to mislead anyone, least of all the Fulani herders.
“The Buhari administration is fully devoted to finding a lasting solution to the herder-farmer clashes in different parts of Nigeria- one that would be acceptable to all the parties involved,” the statement added.
