Over recent months, Nigeria has been bedevilled by the menace of Fulani herdsmen clashing with local farming communities as disputes over grazing have led to bloody clashes. Heavily armed with AK47 assault rifles, the herdsmen have often unleashed brutal terror on communities they clash with, leaving dozens and sometimes hundreds dead.
Sambisa Forest on the other hand has been the base of terrorist sect Boko Haram, which has used it as a launch pad for its war on terror. Asking President Buhari to kill two birds with one stone, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice has said it will be of no use acquiring land all over the country for grazing, when the president can clear the Sambisa Forest for herdsmen to graze their cattle.
Its chairman Suleiman Adeniyi, noted that the herdsmen now pose a major threat to the peace of the nation with their viciousness, adding that moving them to Sambisa forest would be a better alternative rather than starting another crisis with land owners all over the country. President Buhari is considering establishing grazing reserves across the country to accommodate the herdsmen and end the bloody clashes.
Mr Adeniyi said: “The President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government of Nigeria should go and clear the den of Boko Haram sect, popularly called Sambisa Forest for its proposed grazing reserve project for the Fulani herdsmen. The proposed bill would increase avoidable crisis in the land through the violent resistance across the region of the country.
"The Fulani herdsmen have become dangerous species across the states of the federation. President Buhari should drop the idea of forcing the grazing reserves bill on the states contrary to section 17,18 and 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, in order to save the country from imminent violent problem."
He called on politicians and the international community to prevail on the president to drop the idea of grazing reserves across the country, saying it might spark another crisis which would be difficult to solve. Legislators are currently debating a bill that will authorise the establishment of grazing reserves across the country.
“The proposed grazing reserves idea is ill-conceived, illegal, unconstitutional, self-serving, retrogressive, day-light robbery and a time bomb which is capable of igniting monumental crisis across the length and breadth of the nation,” Mr Adeniyi added.
He also commended Amnesty International for bringing to the public notice the high rates of alleged human rights abuses of the nation’s security agents in the war against Boko Haram sect. He added that getting rid of Boko Haram and moving the herdsmen to Sambisa Forest would be a better alternative rather than starting another crisis with landowners all over the country.
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