Ebonyi's Governor Umahi gives Fulani herdsmen final warning that they will be arrested

EBONYI State governor David Umahi has threatened to arrest any Fulani cattle herdsman in the state who flouts his recent directive not to wander around with their livestock.

 

Like most other states in Nigeria, Ebonyi has also been a victim of the recent herdsmen menace in which nomadic Fulanis have clashed with local farming communities. Mainly as a result of their cattle destroying crops, the herdsmen have been involved in skirmishes with local farming communities that have often ended in bloody clashes.

 

To address the problem Governor Umahi has placed a ban of herdsmen wandering around Ebonyi State. Earlier today, in Abakaliki while inaugurating a committee to check disputes between communities and herdsmen, the governor warned that he had given his last warning on the issue.

 

Governor Umahi said: “Cattle must be in one location and the owners should search for food to feed them because our lands are occupied with agricultural ventures. I recently inspected areas we planted flowers and trees in the new city and beheld cattle all over the place.

 

“I asked my aide de camp to ascertain if one leaf was eaten by the cattle because I would have ordered the arrest of the people rearing them. It will be difficult for us to feed ourselves when cattle move around and likewise to achieve our one man, one hectare policy."

 

He added that he was an advocate of Ebonyi people living peacefully with the Fulanis, some of whom had been in the state for over 70 years. According to Governor Umahi, the issue is not where the herdsmen come from because he will resist cattle movement even if they were owned by Ebonyi indigenes.

 

“I will readily offer assistance to the herdsmen to enable them keep the cattle at a place because I will hate to see the cattle eating the rice that I laboured to cultivate. I borrowed N2bn for the rice projects across the state and the federal government also invested funds which will break my heart if the cattle eat the produce.

 

“We can do without cattle but cannot do without food as it is proven that the dung from the cattle destroys the asphalt used to construct roads. The moment the dung drops on the road, it burns the asphalt due to its high-acidic nature and this is one of the major reasons for road failures across the country,” Governor Umahi said.