Governor, Ayodele Fayose has issued a directive that herdsmen who wish to graze their cattle in Ekiti State will henceforth register with the state government on yearly basis.
He said herdsmen in the state will now have to pay the sum of five thousand naira (N5,000) as registration fee each year.
“Many
of the Fulani herdsmen who settled down here did so without permission
from anyone. No one can be living with us and we – their host – would
not know who they are.
“They said there are some strangers who
only come briefly but we don’t want that. Now, they would register with
government for a token of N5,000.
“It is not their money that we need but their identity and locality. The sum of N5,000 would be renewable after a year.
“We
are sending a bill to the State Assembly, which would be that anyone
caught and found guilty of harbouring dangerous Fulani herdsmen would be
jailed for five years without an option of fine,” Fayose said on
Saturday while reacting to the recent killing of a Tiv woman in Orin
Ekiti by people suspected to be Fulani herders.
The governor had a
peace meeting with Fulani herdsmen under the aegis of Miyetti Allah
Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, farmers, local hunters, security
agencies and representatives of the Tiv community in Ado Ekiti.
He promised to mobilise enough government and security agents to fish out the troublemakers.
He
also warned the Serikin Fulani in the state, Muhammed Abashe, that he
would be held responsible for any further attack in the state.
“If
you (Fulani herders) still want to stay among us, you must accept the
responsibility to ensure that none of our peoples’ farms are destroyed
by herdsmen any longer. None of our people must be killed by your men,
either they are strangers or those herdsmen living among us.
“If
any killing or destruction of farms of our people occurs again in that
area, I will ensure that I use the law to fight you, their leader, on
it. This is the last warning I am giving you,” he said.