TheCable

Mansur Dan Ali, minister of defence, has blamed the anti-open grazing law for the killings by suspected herdsmen.

The was first introduced in Ekiti, later Benue and just 24 hours ago, Taraba implemented its.

The Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association have rejected the law, describing it as a time bomb.

In Benue, the killings increased after the law took effect in November. Over 80 persons have been killed in the state in this year alone.

Speaking with state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, Dan Ali appealed to those promulgating the law to realise that herdsmen are also Nigerians who have the right seek means of livelihood.

“Since the nation’s independence, we know there used to be a route where cattle rearers take because they are all over the nation,” he said.

“You go to Bayelsa, Ogun, you will see them. If those routes are blocked what do you expect will happen?

“These people (herdsmen) are Nigerians. It is just like one going to block shoreline, does that make sense to you? These are the remote causes of the crisis.

“But the immediate cause is the (anti-open) grazing law. These people are Nigerians and we must learn to live together with each other. Communities and other people must learn how to accept foreigners within their enclave.”

Describing the violence as part of communal issues, the minister said it had been discovered that militias were also involved in killings.

“In the killings you are talking about, there are militias involved,” he said.

“Some people were caught with arms and they call themselves Forest Guards or whatever, with AK47. There is nowhere in this country where arms are allowed to be carried apart of legitimate security forces.

“So anybody carrying any arm is doing so illegally. Militias were caught in the same land doing the same killings, so the killings are not done by any particular group, is a communal issue.”