TheCable

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), south-east zone, has asked Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, to set up a committee to address conflict between locals and herders.

Siddiki Gidado, chairman of the association, said this on Monday in an interview with NAN in Awka, the Anambra capital.

He said herders in the state are facing security challenges, adding that the setup of the committee will contribute to addressing “tension” involving farmers and herders.

“We, as a body doing business in Anambra and other parts of the south-east, pledge our unalloyed support to partner with the new governor to ensure peaceful coexistence between our members and residents of the state,” he said. 

“The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association knows fully well that without a safe and secure environment, our business is bound to suffer deplorable losses.

“As chairman in the south-east zone, I am deeply worried about the vulnerability of our herders to the brazen rascality of criminal elements in some parts of Anambra state.

“This ugly act was once again laid bare in Obene, a rural community in Ogbaru local government area, where a gang of gunmen invaded herders’ settlement in the wee hours of the morning, and unsettled the peace of the micro-community.

“The Obene incident is just one of the many instances of attacks by different shades of criminals on herders at different locations in the state.

“MACBAN south-east zone is fully in support of governor Soludo’s mission of making Anambra a homeland where every decent person will find pleasure to live in, learn, work and enjoy life fully.

“We plead with the new Anambra administration to deploy more creative measures in stemming the latent tension between herders and the locals in some parts of the state that have been marked as flashpoints.”