The Federal Government of Nigeria, security agencies and states affected by violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers have agreed on strategies to check the menace.
This is the outcome of a crucial security meeting convened by the Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, in Abuja on Monday.
The closed-door meeting, which lasted for about five hours, was attended by the governors of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger and Taraba states, and heads of security agencies.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue said there was now synergy among the security agencies, the federal and state governments to combat the challenge.
However, Governor Ortom, who was joined by his Taraba counterpart, Darius Ishaku, declined to give details of the strategies, saying it was a security matter not meant for public consumption.
“As you can see all the governors of the states where we have the most challenging security problem are here.
“We have dialogued; we have looked at the problem with the security chiefs and appreciated each other.
“One thing that is central is that we have agreed that killing in any form is not allowed; security men must apprehend and prosecute those responsible.
“There is no point politicising these killings; it is the responsibility of all Nigerians to eliminate the criminality that is resulting in the killings,” Ortom said.
Meanwhile, Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development, on Monday said the federal government will establish cattle colonies in states across the country.
The minister maintain that this will help to curb increasing cases of clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
Ogbeh, while stating in Abuja, said the target of his ministry for 2018 is to engage in massive cattle breed improvement through artificial insemination.
Ogbeh added that any culture that poses a threat to the lives and property of Nigerians should be re-examined.
“We want to handle the issue of cattle rearing and crisis between farmers and herdsmen and actually bring it to a halt,” Ogbeh said.
“I know that some people argued that open grazing is our culture, once a culture begins to develop very dangerous trends, leading to warfare between people, bloody clashes and death, that culture is due for re-examination.
“A culture must not be left because it is a culture, if it is harmful, we reform it. We are talking of cattle colonies, not ranches. We are talking of massive cattle breed improvement through artificial insemination, we have to start immediately.
“Sixteen states have given us land to work on, the programme is not going to be cheap but Mr President has personally informed me that if we seek help from him, he will give it to us over and above the budget we have.
“In our interactions with the herdsmen, they always say that if we have water and grass, we will not move anywhere, grass is not grass.”
