Governor of
Anambra State, Mr. Willie Obiano has revealed that security measures
taken by the state government to check the criminal activities of the
Fulani militia, the armed wing of Fulani herdsmen has began to yield
positive results.
Apart from helping security operatives
to fish out criminals in their hideouts, Obiano disclosed that six camps
of herdsmen located in boundary communities in the state have been
located through aerial surveillance, Authority Newspaper reports.
The findings, he said, have prompted his
administration to liaise with the leadership of the Fulani community to
impress on the herdsmen to keep to the grazing terms the state
government reached with them.
The governor assured the people of the
state of maximum protection of their lives and property, adding that his
administration has been collaborating with the Nigeria Police and other
security agencies in fighting crime in the state, including the danger
posed by possible Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on communities in the state.
He defended the incorporation, in the
security arrangement of the state, of aerial surveillance of the state
and its boundary communities using helicopters, noting that the exercise
has gone a long way in further assuring the people of the preparedness
of his administration to safeguard lives and property in Anambra State.
The arrangement, according to the
governor, is primarily aimed at identifying major Fulani herdsmen’s
settlements, other crime spots and security challenges in and around the
state.
Governor Obiano pointed out that through
such exercise, criminals’ dens and or other trouble spots, which could
not easily be reached by land because of their remote locations, would
be discovered and appropriate actions taken to preempt any criminal
activities that might come from such locations.
That was how six Hausa/Fulani camps were identified in the state, most of them close to the boundaries, he stated.
The governor said his administration has
commissioned the state chapter of the Miyetti Allah to coordinate the
activities of the Fulani cattle breeders by visiting the camps to
intimate them on the agreed modus operandi for grazing in the state.
This agreement, he explained, was developed by a committee he setup in the early life of his administration.
Under the deal, Fulani herdsmen are to pay full compensation when their cows destroy farmers’ crops or property belonging to the host communities, while the communities will pay compensation for any cow they wrongly kill.
Under the deal, Fulani herdsmen are to pay full compensation when their cows destroy farmers’ crops or property belonging to the host communities, while the communities will pay compensation for any cow they wrongly kill.
He also said the group has been charged
to warn the herdsmen that none of them should carry AK-47 rifles, guns
and or/any other dangerous weapons, adding that anybody found with such
weapons will face due prosecution.
Obiano noted that the agreement, which
is in operation in the state, has been sustaining the peace between Ndi
Anambra and the herdsmen, stressing that “so far, both parties have kept
to their side of the bargain.”
While debunking the rumour of an attack on Ogbunike community last week by the herdsmen, Governor
Obiano urged Ndi Anambra to desist from peddling reports capable of inciting the people into violence.
Obiano urged Ndi Anambra to desist from peddling reports capable of inciting the people into violence.
Meanwhile, in a display of the spirit of
brotherhood, Obiano has visited the victims of the recent Fulani
herdsmen’s invasion of Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government
Area of Enugu State, and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to sympathize and
commiserate with them.
The visit, which was devoid of the usual
media blitz and speeches, according to political observers, marked
Governor Obiano out as a “sympathetic brother-leader.”
Hattip to Authority Newspaper.