Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association, the
umbrella body of cattle breeders in the country has said the anti-open grazing law in Benue
State Government, aimed at regulating cow grazing in the state, must be
modified for peace to reign in the state.
Secretary-General of the association, Usman Ngelzerma, said this during an interview with The PUNCH on Monday.
Ngelzerma
said, “I like the Benue State governor. He is a peace-loving person but
is working on wrong advice. The approach he took is wrong. You cannot
change the way of life of a people like the way you turn off a light
switch.
“We don’t wish for the crisis to continue but let us give
it (the law) another look. We don’t like the killings; we will never
condone the killing of people. Give the farmers their rights but
consider the pastoralists too.”
Ngelzerma, blamed a faction of the association for issuing threats before the latest attacks in Benue State.
He
fingered the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, which endorsed the then
President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 election, as
being at loggerheads with the Benue State Government.
The
secretary-general alleged that the livestock guards, employed by the
state government to enforce the anti-open grazing law, were high-handed
and were extorting money from the pastoralists.
Ngelzerma claimed
that the fighting between the herdsmen and the livestock guards led to
the January 1 killings in five communities in the Guma and Logo Local
Government Areas of the state in which over 20 persons were murdered.
He
said, “The livestock guards have constituted themselves to the police
and the court at the same time. They impose penalties on herdsmen, fine
them huge sums of money before releasing them. That was the situation
before this crisis erupted.
“I was told that shortly before this
crisis, the guards went to make some arrests in a particular community
and they met stiff resistance from the Fulani because they were already
tired of the persistent harassment from the guards, not the police or
the DSS, army or constituted authority.
Death toll in Benue killings hits 71 –Ortom’s aide:
“This was what led to the violence and unnecessary deaths that followed which we do not condone.”
The
MACBAN boss urged the National Assembly to quickly pass the Grazing
Reserve Bill into law, which will lead to the creation of grazing
reserves and ultimately stop herdsmen from encroaching on farmlands.
We’re zeroing in on breeders’ leadership, say police
Meanwhile,
the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Operations, Joshak Habila, has
said detectives are zeroing in on the leadership of the Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria over alleged involvement in the
Benue killings.
The MACBAN Chairman, Benue State chapter, Garos
Gololo, had told the BBC in an interview that the killings were in
retaliation for the theft of 1,000 cows by some people in the state.
But
the DIG explained that detectives were still gathering information and
intelligence at the crime scene, noting that anyone found culpable in
the killings would not be spared.
Habila, who said this on
Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, on Monday, disclosed that the
leadership of Miyetti Allah had been invited to write statements, adding
that these were being verified.
The DIG, who is supervising the
police operation in Benue State, said, “We have engaged them (Miyetti
Allah leadership); we have also confronted them with this allegation.
“Don’t
forget, they have taken the government of Benue to court, they are in
court. We are zeroing in on them, and if there is any piece of
information, we shall pick that has to do with them, they would not be
spared.”
Asked if the police were probing the claims by the
Miyetti Allah, Habila stated that detectives had gathered a lot of
intelligence, assuring that they would soon get a lead from the evidence
they were analyzing.
He explained that men and equipment had
been deployed in the communities and farms in addition to the aerial
patrol by surveillance helicopter.
He said, “They (Miyetti Allah)
have given their statements and we are verifying. We have been able to
gather a lot of intelligence from the communities that were affected and
also picked some traces of evidence. I’m sure we are going to get a
window, we are going to get a lead; it is never too late.
“But I can assure you that those who would be connected to the killings would not be spared.”
Habila
hinted that the attackers did not come with their cattle so that they
could easily strike their targets and withdraw, noting that the targeted
communities were distant from each other.
He disclosed that the
area was also rugged and not easily accessible, adding that the chopper
was in constant communication with the ground forces to alert them to
movement of suspicious elements in the area.
He stated that he
had been having regular meetings with the Benue State Governor, Samuel
Ortom, adding that he had provided the necessary logistics for the
police.
Habila pointed out that the security forces needed timely
information from the communities about suspicious movements of herdsmen
so that the police could know the communities that were under threat
and go after the perpetrators.
On the allegations by the state
government that the police ignored threats by the herdsmen, the DIG,
said, “The police are not so stupid to ignore the complaints by His
Excellency, and we would not be so stupid to also damn the consequences.
“You
will see in a few days, anybody, who is implicated, would be taken in
and interrogated and if evidence is found, like the 18 people that are
being prosecuted, we would have no hesitation in bringing them to
justice.