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Masari narrates how cattle rustling turned into banditry, insurgency

August 16, 2021 No Comments

Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State has given an insight into how cattle rustling snowballed into the current spate of kidnapping and banditry in the North West Zone of the country.

The governor spoke in Katsina during a press conference on Saturday.

The governor attributed part of the security challenges the region was facing to lack of education as well as influx of criminals from some North African countries.

Masari, who said there were ongoing efforts to tackle insecurity in the state, lamented that the current situation had prevented farmers from accessing their farmlands.

Unfortunately, what we met as cattle rustling has turned into banditry and insurgency which are depriving people, especially those living in the border area of the forests which are very fertile, from access to their farms, drastically affecting their source of livelihood.

“They have lost their ploughing cattle which they used to plough the land.

”This has caused another challenge to our “Restoration Agenda” in Katsina but we thank God that we can continue,” he said.

Masari revealed that the seven governors from the North West Zone have been meeting to work out modalities on how to end insurgency, part of which is the ongoing training of about 500 vigilance members to be followed by another 3,000 soon.

We have a committee under the North West Zone because of our linkage in terms of the boundary.

”We are strategising on how to deal with the situation.

”And as I talk to you now, we have 500 vigilantes undergoing training and we intend to take another 3,000.

“’We have infiltration from Niger Republic, Mali which has very large ungoverned spaces and you know the problem in Libya has unleashed arms and ammunition on sub-Saharan Africa.

“And we have to accept that within these areas, Nigeria is the richest and an attraction for all forms of criminality and kidnapping.

Even ISWAP will want to at least stay in the North West to institute family here and but are fighting day and night to ensure that it doesn’t happen. We are working night and day to make sure that it doesn’t become a permanent feature.

“The major problem we are facing now is the issue of selected kidnapping; they have moved a step further by going to town to kidnap a member of the family. That is the stage we are dealing with now.”

Politics

Blockade of cattle, foodstuff from north an act of war –Yoruba youth group

March 3, 2021 No Comments

The Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW), the apex umbrella body of youths in Yoruba land, on Monday, condemned the recent move by the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) to block cattle and other foodstuff going to the South West, describing it as an act of war.

According to the group, the blockade was a move to sabotage the efforts of the government, knowing that past and present administrations have heavily invested taxpayers monies into the agricultural sector starting from the Olusegun Obasanjo’s and Goodluck Jonathan’s era.

President, YCYW, Aare Oladotun Hassan, said the South-West youths would not fold their hands and watch the “unscrupulous elements” under the guise of an association or trade union, sabotage efforts of the government.

With the level of commitments and investments in the agricultural sector over the years, he said there was a need at this point in time to separate national business from private business.

He said as a private business, if the cattle breeders association believes that it controls the food commodities that come from the north, the youths of the south-west states are not lazy, and are prepared for the task ahead.

In a counteraction to AUFCDN, Hassan told Ripples Nigeria that YCYW had made a resolution to put an embargo on further trading of all commodities coming from the northern part of Nigeria, and not only on agricultural produce, noting that the ban would get dipper than they thought.

He said: “We have put an embargo on all items coming from the north too. Anything that is coming from the north should just stay there. They should buy and consume all the commodities themselves.

“We voted for a president and not a northern president. If they believe they have a northern president, then we will all go regional and if they are crossing our boundaries then they would pay all our immigration rights and dues before we would permit them to trade or work.

“They have taken us for granted for too long. The worst of this nomadic idea is the fact that over billions worth of staple food are wasted because it is not the farmers that sell the products but private investors. If they had wanted to stop the farmers, they would have done that from the farm, but the investors who have invested heavily are the ones they are diverting their economic interests.”

He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order a thorough investigation on the issue to be headed by the Inspector General of Police, and to ensure that anyone found culpable is ruthlessly dealt with and prosecuted accordingly.

“It is a criminal offence for them to sabotage a private individual’s investment. It is not the farmers that are bringing their produce to the south-west but the investors. They are now taking cattle breeding as a northern agenda. At the moment we are embarking on agricultural development zone,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said the silence on the part of the government towards the issue shows a high level of connivance; however, he called on President Buhari to act within 48 hours, nothing that failure to act means that he has already stepped in for a division.

Entertainment

Livestock Guards arrest farmer, son for alleged cattle rustling in Benue

January 30, 2021 No Comments

Benue State Livestock Guards on Friday arrested a farmer, Atsegba Ukua, and his son for rustling six cattle in Gbajimba, Guma local government area of the state.

The Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Col. Paul Hemba (retd), told journalists on Saturday in Makurdi that the duo were arrested on their way to sell the cattle.

According to him, Ukua told the Livestock Guards that he seized the cattle on his farm because they were destroying his crops and was on his way to sell them to recover his losses.

Hemba added that the government was not satisfied with the farmer’s explanation and he would be treated as a cattle rustler.

He said: “We do not accept his explanation. He is a cattle rustler and will be treated as such. He and his son would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

“This is part of the reason why Governor Samuel Ortom advocated for ranching to end all forms of criminality associated with open grazing.”

He promised that the six cattle would be handed over to the representatives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) for handing over to the owner.