Enugu State governor sets up joint committee of local communities and cattle herders

ENUGU State governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has brokered an agreement between local farming communities and nomadic Fulani herdsmen involving the establishing of a joint standing committee to avoid future violent clashes.

 

Like most other parts of Nigeria, Enugu State has witnessed its fair share of clashes between herdsmen and local farmers as rampaging cattle have destroyed crops leading to violent clashes and reprisals. Looking for a solution to the crisis, Governor Ugwuanyi agreed to set up the committee in search of lasting peace and harmony between the host communities and the herdsmen and also curb criminal activities suspected to be perpetrated by the herdsmen.

 

Yesterday, the governor held a meeting with the herdsmen at Government House in Enugu, where the deal was agreed. Operating under the aegis of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, South- East Zone, the herdsmen attended the event in their numbers.

 

Governor Ugwuanyi said: “This meeting has been summoned essentially for purposes of entrenching peace in Enugu State. It will, however, dwell on recent happenings in the state which are not only posing a significant threat to peace and the security of lives and property of our people but are also threatening to spiral out of control.

 

“We are all witnesses to the rising wave of undesirable incidents and criminal activities in the state particularly kidnapping, armed robbery and clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in some rural communities in Enugu State. This meeting is to forge a better relationship with the cattle breeders and curb on-going frictions between them and their hosts, especially in view of the recent clash between Fulanis and the people of a community in Awgu council area of the state. "

 

Alhaji Gidado Sidikki, the chairman of the cattle breeders association enumerated incidents that have constituted sources of estranged relations between them and their hosts and appealed to the governor to do all within the ambit of his powers to reverse the situation. “We are aware that such incidents are currently promoting a sense of insecurity and restiveness among our people and if not promptly and effectively checked, could lead to a breakdown of law and order as well as avoidable but potentially lethal clashes between groups or communities in the state,” he added.