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The Chairman, Senate Services, Karimi Sunday, has told his colleagues that Nigeria can end the lives lost to herder/farmer conflicts in days if it stops playing politics with security.
He called on government at all levels to take the bold step of stopping cattle from roaming about in the country.
Sunday, while speaking on the motion to address the latest killings by suspected herdsmen in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, described the Nigerian situation where cattle freely moved about as “strange”, recommending a national conference where parties to the herder/farmer crisis must agree to end it by banning the free movement of cattle.
The lawmaker, a member of the All Progressives Congress, who represents Kogi-West, recalled a recent visit by senators to Morocco recently, where they expressed surprise at not sighting cattle anywhere after travelling for about 300 kilometers by road.
Senator spoke more, “We were in Morocco with my colleagues.
“We travelled a distance of about 300km by road from Marrakech to Casablanca by bus.
“Along the road, we never saw people moving about with cattle, and we were asking ourselves. We have to tell ourselves the truth in this country.
“But, in Nigeria here, we see cattle moving all over the place. The solution is in our hands. We have decided as a nation to play politics with the security of this country and our people.
“If we want to solve the problem, we can solve it.
“In other parts of the world, other African countries, in Algeria, in Egypt, you don’t find such a thing except in Nigeria.
“If we want to find solutions to the farmer/ herder crisis, we can find it. We know what to do. Let’s call a national conference and agree to end the problem.
“Let’s stop this issue of cattle moving all over the place.”
