Afew days after Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, warned Fulani herdsmen to stop grazing their cows in the city centre, some Fulani herders were on Sunday seen doing just that in the city centre.
Mr Wike, on assumption of office as FCT minister last week Monday, warned Fulani herdsmen to take their cows out of the city centre, saying that cow grazing in the city centre will not be allowed.
“We cannot allow cows inside the city. It can be outside the city. That is the way it should be done,” Mr Wike said.
“Because the grasses are outside the city. The grasses are not here. These are grasses we planted to beautify the city. The ones in the area councils are the ones that can eat.”
On Sunday, however, Peoples Gazette sighted a herd of cattle openly grazing around Goodluck Jonathan Expressway, near the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Christian Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.
Photos and video of the cows grazing near the CBN were taken by the Gazette at about 1:52 p.m., on Sunday.
Located at Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way Central Business District, Abuja, the CBN is metres away from Aso Presidential Villa.
Though Mr Wike’s warning against open grazing in the city centre was lauded by many, the return of cows on the streets of Abuja appears Fulani herders will not heed to his directive.
In the past eight years, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, Fulani herdsmen engaged their cattle in open grazing within the city centre.
Though it was condemned, Mr Buhari’s regime did nothing about it as herders grazed their cows from Jabi district to Asokoro, Maitama to Central Business District, where the State House, National Assembly and Supreme Court are located.
