Ikpeazu To Miyetti Allah: No Room For Fulani Herdsmen Vigilantes In Abia

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has rejected plans by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to set up herdsmen vigilantes in the state.

Reports had recently emerged that MACBAN made a proposal to governors in the South East seeking to set up Fulani herdsmen vigilantes in the region to help curb security challenges in the region.

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But Governor Ikpeazu, in reaction to the reports, said Abia State does not have room to accommodate herdsmen vigilantes in the state.

The governor said the state government had put a mediation strategy in place to check farmlands destruction or killing of cows in order to avoid cases of farmers-herders clashes in the state.

“Fulani herdsmen will not be part of any security arrangement in Abia State. Such strategy could work elsewhere but not in Abia State. We have our own plans which we will be willing to share with other people if they are interested. Our plans do not have provision for Herdsmen as Vigilantes,” Ikpeazu said in statement on Saturday.

“One of the reasons why we have no instances of Herders-Farmers clash in Abia State is because we adopted an innovative and unique strategy which takes a human view of the situation. I spent seven years in the north as an undergraduate and postgraduate student, and I have a fair idea of how the average Fulani behaves and thinks.

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“One thing we have done in Abia is to set up Mediation Committees at the State and Local Government levels. When cows destroy crops, the cows don’t know the difference between cash crops and normal grass. Someone must take responsibility. I have mandated the mediation committee to investigate real cases of destruction of farmlands and even, the killing of cows and when such instances are confirmed, I choose to pay either the owner of the farm or the cow owner as the case maybe. I prefer to pay for one or two cows to losing any life. One human life is more expensive than all the cows put together.

“However, our major emphasis is on ensuring peaceful coexistence amongst all those concerned. This is why we hear little about clashes in Abia State. There are herdsmen in Abia but we have managed to create a template that ensures peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, a pan-Igbo group, Nzuko Umunna, had on Friday described MACBAN’s alleged plan to set up vigilantes in the South East region as “not only the height of insult but a clear vote of no-confidence on the nation’s security apparatus.”

The Igbo group warned the herder group to immediately withdraw the alleged proposal, saying: “Miyetti Allah should also not be unmindful of the grave potentials of pitching its members against an already restive Igbo youth population.

“Miyetti Allah should take its provocative proposal first to the Northern Governors Forum towards managing the huge security crises in Zamfara and many northern States.

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“It should not take the traditional courtesies of Ndigbo as a weakness. We warn South East Governors to reject this poisoned chalice forcefully.”

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