Herdsmen invasion: The residents’ measures to stop attacks in Anambra

                         


FOLLOWING last week’s slaughtering of dozens of people in Uzouwani local government area of Enugu State by suspected herdsmen, many communities in Anambra State have been strategizing on how to deal with the situation if it arises in their areas. 


The development jolted many communities in the state, especially those that have sizeable herdsmen in their areas such that emergency meetings were convened by traditional rulers and Presidents General of town unions to decide on measures to adopt. 

Indeed, the Enugu massacre has made many people in Anambra to take a second look at the large number of Fulani families and commercial motorcycle operators of northern Nigeria descent in the state. Mr. Robinson Nwafor, a community leader in one of the villages in Ayamelum local government area of the state, which shares border with Uzouwani in Enugu State, said the people of the area initially deserted their homes the day the massacre took place and converged in the bush where decisions were taken on how to handle the herdsmen if they exhibited any untoward behavior. 

He said: “These herdsmen and their cows have been destroying our farms for a long time and, despite all our complaints, nothing has been done by the authorities. What we witness on daily basis is influx of more herdsmen and their wives. They build makeshift houses and return to the houses after grazing and the more worrisome development is the rate at which their population increases. “Following this development, our people have devised means of protecting our crops which is to fence the farms.

 Apart from the farms, one could, at any time of the day or night, discover that cows have taken over the vicinity of our compounds and our people just watch and pray that they leave on their own volition. “With what happened in Uzouwani, we have decided to empower our village vigilant group more and part of the decision is to barricade all roads leading to our community with iron rods in such a way that cows cannot pass through them.” 

Chairman of the Forum of Presidents of Ohaneze in all Igbo –speaking states in the country, Dr. Chris Eluemunoh, wondered why government should create grazing fields for people doing their private businesses, asking, “what is special about Fulani people and their cows?” Eluemunoh said: “They should create grazing fields in their areas and such a thing should not concern people who are not herdsmen. 

Forcing people to donate their farmlands for grazing fields will only lead to a catastrophe as clashes are bound to happen between the herdsmen and farmers. “How do they even want to achieve this? Are they going to confiscate people’s lands to satisfy a section of the country? T

his law should never be allowed to pass. “The ideal thing is that grazing fields should be created where there are cows and everybody knows where the cows are found in this country. “The highest the government can do is to create ranches in the states where cows can be kept for people to go and buy and the cows should not leave those ranches to wander on people’s farms.

 That is how it is done in countries that even have more cows than Nigeria. “We discussed this issue at the last National Conference and resolved that only ranches can be created in southern states and not grazing fields.” Also worried by the Enugu massacre, the Anambra State House of Assembly has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the menace of herdsmen to avoid anarchy in the country. 

Following a matter of urgent public importance motion brought to the floor of the assembly by Hon. Uche Okafor, representing Ayamelum constituency, the lawmakers said Anambra was facing the threat of the herdsmen and argued that something has to be done urgently. 

Okafor cited the situation at Omasi in his constituency, saying that his people no longer go to their farms for fear of the unknown since it was a border community with Enugu State.  The lawmaker recalled that two persons were abducted by herdsmen in Umunmbo in Ayamelum last year and said that there is so much tension in his area.


From Vanguard