Southwest senators reject cattle colony, Biafra groups warn cattle rearers

Senators from the South West geopolitical zone have rejected the cattle colony policy of the Federal Government.

According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Cybercrime, Dr. Abdulfatai Buhari, the stance was in tandem with the feelings of leaders and concerned stakeholders in the region.

Speaking at a town hall meeting and empowerment programme organised for the people of Oyo North at the Permanent Orientation Camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Iseyin, he noted that the lawmakers could have gone against the consensus of the Afenifere leaders.

During the well-attended event graced by Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdulganiyu Adekunle Ologunebi, as well as other royal fathers and prominent ruling party executives and others, Buhari noted that it would amount to injustice if the people’s representatives in the National Assembly took a different position on the policy.

He said: “It is not my own view. We are queuing into what our leaders said and the view of our leaders everybody knows.

“Look at the potential we have in Oke-Ogun, an agrarian area. So, for you to now bring people to come and destroy their crops and farms would not be supported. The settlement would be most affected by the policy.

Meanwhile, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) have warned herdsmen to steer clear of the zone, noting that their security is not guaranteed.

In statement yesterday in Abakaliki by the leader of MASSOB in Ebonyi South Senatorial District, Mr. Sunday Ezaka, the group vowed that it would resist any form of attacks.

He condemned the indiscriminate killing of innocent Nigerians, especially farmers in the country by the nomads, ruling out cattle colonies in the region.

Ezaka held that herding remains a private business and not a national enterprise.

He cautioned governors in the zone against conceding to the policy, saying its acceptance would result in the “mother of all crises.”

The statement reads in part: “MASSOB and BIM will not tolerate or accommodate killer herdsmen within the South East zone. The wanton killing and destruction of property by this group have emphasized the need for Biafra. The country is presently witnessing the murdering of innocent Nigerians and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is busy using propaganda to deceive Nigerians.