TheCable

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, says the national identity number (NIN) could be used to identify criminal herders.

Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Ganduje said a lot of information could be obtained from NIN after the data may have been mined.

The governor said only “very few” herders are criminals, adding that the challenge is differentiating between the criminals from the non-criminals.

“If we have data and technology, it is easy to do that (differentiate criminal herders from non-criminals). We should make sure that all the herdsmen are being forced like other Nigerians to have national identification,” he said.

“Using technology, you can get the criminals out of them and get a lot of information from there. It is not all the herders that are criminals, only very few of them are criminals. Since they are all herders, you find it difficult to differentiate.

“Most importantly is the economic empowerment of the Fulani or the herdsmen. They need a system that will improve the animal husbandry that they are practising, it’s an issue we don’t even talk about. We only talk about security.

“We are not talking about the economic improvements of their lives which has also created security challenges.”

Ganduje noted that those who say banning the movement of cattle from north to south is an infringement of herders’ rights have not proffered any other solution.

“When business is as usual, how do we move forward? Those who are saying banning cattle movement from north to south is affecting human rights, they have not told us the solution,” the governor said.

“Education in Kano is free and compulsory, why should we allow children to follow cows?”