Recently, the leadership of
the socio cultural groups of the three major tribes in Benue State, the
Mdzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and the Omi Ny’Igede were at the
Government House in Makurdi.....
where they raised the alarm over an alleged
impending invasion of the state by herdsmen in November. In this
interview, President General of Mdzough U Tiv, the Tiv Socio cultural
group, Chief Edward Ujege explained why they had to take that step. He
also spoke on other salient national issues.
What has prompted the unease in Benue State and the alarm being raised over alleged impending attacks in the state by herdsmen?
The leadership of the three major tribes in Benue State
are worried about the misfortune that befell us leading to the wanton
killing of our people and destruction of our property by herdsmen. The
thing became so terrible that we had to call on the state government to
do something. And due to our outcry, the government, through the House
of Assembly following due process, enacted a law which is now known as
the open grazing prohibition law to check the conflict between herdsmen
and farmers in the state due to the limited land and the growing
population in the state, considering that our people are basically
farmers.
When this law was enacted in good faith, which called for
the establishment of ranches, the Miyetti Allah vowed that they would
resist it by all means available to them. They even threaten to go to
court to challenge it but that did not bother us. However, our major
source of worry now is the privileged information we gathered that they
are amassing at the Nigerian/Cameroon border, both cows and militia and
in Nasarawa State at the border with Benue State just waiting for the
right time to move into Benue and attack the people.
We are deeply concerned that the alleged heightened
preparations to invade Benue with large mass of cattle and militia is to
truncate the impending take-off of the anti-open grazing law scheduled
for the 1st. of November, 2017. We believe the plan is to make the law
unenforceable if the authorities have no means to contain the influx of
the cattle and the herdsmen. This invariably could lead to conflicts
between farmers and the herdsmen and thus giving them the excuse to
initiate and execute their plan to annihilate us and take over our God
given land and inheritance. Unfortunately, our calls for action from the
federal government have been falling on deaf ears as nothing has been
done to call them to order.It will interest you to know that in 2014 alone over half a
million people were displaced in our state and the future of almost a
million youths truncated in the various attacks carried out by the
herdsmen while properties worth over N95 billion were destroyed. Yet not
a single person has been arrested or prosecuted for these dastardly
acts.
We feel threatened because we know what they can do, we
have experienced it before. They have even claimed that they settled in
Benue before us, which means they now want to come and occupy the land
and we will have nowhere to go. We have gone to the governor to raise
the alarm and to tell him to reach out to people of goodwill to come to
the rescue of the people of Benue State. Moreover we are approaching the
dry season, we also had information that the herdsmen met in Nigeria
and outside the country to strategise on how to invade our communities.
Under normal circumstances we would have felt that it would not happen
but we had in the past experience such so the earlier we let the world
know, the better for us before it becomes late. Just few days ago we
heard of the killings in Plateau State. Why is the federal government
not doing anything about it, are they happy seeing people killed just
like that, are they happy seeing the sources of livelihood and property
of helpless people destroyed? These are the questions begging for
answers. We are appealing to those in authority to check their
consciences, have they done enough to prevent this mayhem being visited
on our people?What do you think could be the reason for this latest threat?
It is actually because of the new law. But the point is
that if they adhere to the law it will be a win- win situation for the
herdsmen and farmers. It will check the amount of killings and damages
everyone suffers. The fact of the matter is that the said law in is in
compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian constitution. It has no
provision that is anti people. It ensures peaceful coexistence and the
protection of lives and property of everyone.
What is the position of the people of the state on the enactment of the new law?
We are solidly behind Governor Samuel Ortom, our support
for him is 110 percent. Come rain come shine we are with him. And come
November 1st which is the date for the commencement of the
implementation of the law, whatever legal means or action that is taken
we are with him. We will make sure that the law is applied to each and
everyone. I may also wish to remind you that the law is not only about
cows, fortunately it is about every animal or livestock and owners,
irrespective of who you are or where you are coming from. The law
applies to everyone in Benue State but unfortunately it is only one
group that is kicking against it. So when the law comes into being, even
our people who breed animals are going to be affected.
Do you really think that the prohibition of open grazing could help curtail the crisis between herdsmen and local farmers?I don’t even believe that as a country we can continue to
go on with cows roaming the streets of our country. If it were possible,
developed countries like Britain, America and others would have allowed
animals to roam the streets in London, New York and others. In these
countries they have huge land mass but they do not allow animals on the
roads because there are immense advantages to have these animals
confined in ranches. With ranching, you check transmission of diseases,
the animals get fatter and the returns on the animals are higher, they
get more milk, they sell for more. They make good economic gains through
better animal husbandry.
When I was born 70 years ago there was land and the
herdsmen could move freely but now before you could move from one piece
of land to the other, you go across houses and cultivated farmlands and
food barns. So everything has changed and we are supposed to move with
the trend of time.
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