Jethro Ibileke/Benin
FILE PHOTO: A herdsman in Nigeria
As the menace of herdsmen continue to generate tension nationwide, traditional rulers in the six local government areas that make up Edo North senatorial district have called on the federal government to deploy soldiers as backup to areas prone to attacks.
Edo North is made up of Akoko-Edo, Owan West, Owan East, Etsako West, Etsako East and Etsako Central local government areas.
Briefing journalists in Auchi, headquarters of Etsako West which is the senatorial headquarters on Thursday, the Otaru of Auchi, HRH Alhaji Aliru Momoh, Ikelegbe III, said their women have been raped by the rampaging herdsmen on countless occasions.
According to the monarch, the Nigerian Police possess inferior weapons to those carried by the herdsmen, which has resulted in unchallenged attacks in the area, just as he lamented that the vigilante groups who have in the past dared the criminally minded herdsmen have been demoralised due to irregular payment of their stipends apparently as a result of drop in government finances.
“We have a situation of the menace by Fulani herdsmen that have been operating and disturbing our farmers all over this place, it is increasingly very disturbing.
“Before now, herdsmen have always been coming, they have the routes they pass to the south and other parts over the years. But now there have been issues of destroyed farmlands or people being taken as hostages, kidnappers all over the place, that is something that we want government to do something about.
HRH Alhaji Aliru Momoh, Ikelegbe III
“We are appealing to the federal government to ensure that soldiers are deployed to some of these areas because we now find that the police don’t have the armoury, they don’t have the strength to address or frontally attack these …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
