Enugu – Enugu State Government has banned night cattle grazing in the state as part of measures to check the incessant clashes between herdsmen and their host communities.
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi announced the ban in Enugu on Monday during a meeting between government officials and leaders of the Fulani community and Shuwa Arabs in the state.
The governor said that he had in a previous meeting highlighted the concerns of his administration over the constant clashes involving herdsmen in the state.
“During our last meeting we highlighted the security concerns and agreed to work together.
“But few weeks after, suspected herdsmen invaded Nimbo community and killed several people for which we have set up a commission of inquiry,” he said.
Ugwuanyi said that he summoned the latest meeting to see how the various stakeholders would work together to embrace the peace that had eluded several communities in the state.
“We have lived in peace with the Fulani community but all of a sudden the trouble started. So we must identify the root cause of this violence.
“Our people do not know what is Fulani or Shuwa Arab but the Shuwa Arabs must know that our people have lived peacefully with the Fulani before they came.
“I have kept quiet for a long time and will now speak out,” he said.
Ugwuanyi said that the state government might be forced to close down cattle markets in the state if the problems persisted.
“If we fail to agree on the way forward in this meeting I will close down the cattle markets and report same to the Federal Government.
“Nobody should touch any herdsman and the herdsmen should not touch anybody.
“Henceforth, the state government and affected communities will pay for any cow killed by our people.
“If the herdsmen destroy any crop belonging to farmers, they will pay and that way we shall co-exist in peace,” he said.
Ugwuanyi said that all herdsmen grazing in the state must as a matter of urgency refrain from carrying arms and ammunition.
Earlier, the leader of the Fulani community in the state, Alhaji Ado Baso, said that for the 34 years he had lived in the state he had not witnessed such bloodbath as happened in Nimbo.
Baso said that he was fully aware that there were bad eggs among them but expressed regret that every single action involving herdsmen was blamed on Fulani herdsmen.
He exonerated the Fulani herdsmen of any wrongdoing, pointing out that they had coexisted peacefully with their host communities until the Shuwa Arab herdsmen started grazing in the state.
Baso appealed to the state government to impress it on the Shuwa Arab herdsmen to stop grazing in the night in order to ascertain where the problems came from.
“We appeal to the affected communities to remain calm while we help government fish out the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said.
Also, Alhaji Sheriff Kaliya, the leader of Shuwa Arab herdsmen in the state, said that his people did not permanently graze in one particular area for a long time.
Kaliya said that their activities were mostly within the month of February and June and appealed to the government to allow them move in the night.
“I now agree that Shuwa Arabs will not graze in the night but by the time we leave after June, my ears will be open to hear what will happen between herdsmen and their host communities,” he said. (NAN)
