NEWS
Miyetti Allah Alleges Killing Herders, Farmers By Unknown Gunmen In Benue
From Attah Ede, Makurdi
The Leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ( MACBAN), Benue State chapter, on Thursday, alleged that unknown people with military and paramilitary uniforms have been killing herders and farmers in some communities living along Benue and Nasarawa States.
The association further stated that the unknown killers usually came to attack herders and farmers living in the communities along the Benue and Nasarawa States border.
Chairman of MACBAN in Benue State, Alhaji Mohammed Risku, who disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Makurdi, revealed that no fewer than 31 Fulani people including women and children have been killed so far by these unidentified persons between January and April this year, stressing that it has become practically impossible to know the true identities of those uniform men.
“Whenever these unknown people enter the communities, they will begin to attack our people, kill them, kill our cows and even kill local farmers too. We have been reporting these strange occurrences to the joint military operations covering Benue and Nasarawa States but, no action taken.
“The other day, 11 Fulani children were killed around Doma/Gwerwest border areas. Again, six Fulani herders were killed in Gwerwest. They were on bikes, attacked and killed by unknown people. Even at Guma LGA, one herder was attacked and killed, his bike was taken away. All these killings happened in this year 2024”, Risku lamented.
The MACBAN chairman advocated for setting up of a special joint security committee by the state government comprising of local farmers, local fulani herders and other stakeholders to coordinate the local security at the various communities faced with incessant attacks and killings in the state.
According to him, if the government could establish such a committee that could integrate the local farmers and Fulani herders to be recognised, supervised by government security agencies and state government, the incessant attacks and killings would be curtailed.
He said that the association in collaboration with the Benue State Government will soon embark on a statewide advocacy tour of communities located along the Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States to create security awareness.
According to him, the advocacy was necessary in order to enlighten local farmers and herders about the on going peace efforts by various governments, and the need to address issue of incessant attacks on communities in local government areas located in and around riverine areas of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States
Corroborating the chairman’s position, the secretary of MACBAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Galma, maintained that the leadership of the Fulani herders in the State, have been advocating for such committee but the government is yet to give approval.
He noted that most of the challenges being experienced in the State today, were as a result of non integrations of Fulani group, adding that experience had shown that there were herders and farmers crisis in the State several years ago, and Guma local government area is the worst hit, but today, the local communities and the fulanis have cooperated and incorporated themselves and there is no more crises.
“So, the security agencies at Guma LGA are even now at rest because they don’t have problems of attack and counter attacks anymore, except the problem of bandits and ordinary criminals.
“Even talking about the attacks and killings in the Logo and Katsina-Ala axis of the state, there are large armed bandits and criminals inhabited in those areas which cannot be attributed to Fulani herdsmen.
“The entire Sankara axis was inhabited by a large number of criminal gangs and those criminal gangs are not of Fulani origin. Although,there are few bad fulanis who are also part of them and there are also those local farmers, indigenous youths from the areas who have taken into these dreaded acts due to consumption of illicit drugs.
“This criminal act of kidnappings and armed banditry has made these people acquire money and also have a very large empty area of hiding, especially around the Cameroonian and the Nigerian borders which is a very large empty area, so they are perpetrating crimes.
“So those crimes and criminalities within those axes were not associated with farmers and herders’ issues. Is completely criminal gangs and those gangs are coordinated”, Galma stated.
Speaking on the persistent attacks and killings in Adoka/Apa and Gwer west local government areas of the state, the secretary, said MACBAN could not ascertain on whether the act is being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen, hence there is no representatives of Fulani herders in the Adoka and Apa axis.
“Truly we have been hearing about the attacks and killings in those areas, but we cannot actually allude to the Fulani herdsmen being behind it because we have no representatives from that axis. These Ardos from zone C, most of their settlements are in Otukpo, Ohimini, Okpokwu and Ado LGAs and are not connected to the Apa/Adoka areas.
“Those herders around those areas are strange people and we believe that they are finding their roots from Nasarawa State. This information I am giving you, I believe that the police know about it because the entrance is through Rukubi where they crossed the border. So, we don’t have anything to say or do because when it comes to the issue of attacks and killings, we extonerate ourselves from it” Galma stated.
With Nigeria’s out-of-school children figure still high at 18.3 million, an international charity has initiated fresh moves to tackle the syndrome.
The Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation (IAF), based in England, said it was determined to contribute significantly to tackling the crisis.
IAF had been campaigning for intensified efforts to tackle out-of-school syndrome in Nigeria, where UNICEF and UNESCO have reeled out huge figures of out-of-school children from year-to- year.
In a statement on Friday, the Founder of the foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, said the fresh initiative was to support the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government.
Adeagbo said the foundation was working on what she described as a “roadmap” to be unveiled by the foundation this month to tackle the problem and salvage early-child education in Nigeria.
According to her, the foundation has come out in full force to support the Federal Government to overcome the syndrome.
“With over 18 million children out-of-school, Nigeria’s education landscape faces an unprecedented crisis.
“The nation’s economic and social future depends on our collective commitment to quality education,’’ the British-born Nigerian, who resides in London, said.
She said Nigeria’s education system was grappling with challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and under-funding.
“The foundation is committed to driving actionable solutions at this point in time because we must secure a brighter future for our out-of-school children and Nigerian education in general.
“Education is the cornerstone of development and progress,” Adeagbo added.
Adeagbo disclosed that an international summit on education had been slated Nov. 26 to ignite discussions on how to over the challenge.
“We cannot afford to overlook the urgent needs of the education sector,” she said.
She said that the summit tagged: “Street to School: A Tech-Based Solution to Address Nigeria’s Education Crisis’’ would ignite critical discussions that would lead to substantial and measurable changes in Nigeria’s education landscape.
Adeagbo called on the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to education in line with UNESCO’s recommendation of 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total budget.
She also called for strengthening of partnerships with civil society groups to fund educational initiatives aimed at tackling various problems in the education sector, especially the out-of-school challenge.
Adeagbo said that Nigeria should implement initiatives targeted specifically at marginalised groups, including girls, children with disabilities and those from low-income families.
The IAF founder stressed the need for the government to utilise technology to boost learning opportunities, especially in remote communities and unserved areas.
Adeagbo added that Nigeria should give priority attention to training of teachers to equip them with skills to deliver quality education.
“We believe that Nigeria can establish a sustainable and inclusive educational framework that will leave no child behind,’’ she stated.
Report says that insecurity caused by terrorism, banditry and kidnapping plaguing Nigeria for years, contributed much to out-of-school syndrome in the country.
However, the Federal Government has been fighting to stamp out the negative activities to allow children to have unrestricted access to the classrooms. (NAN)
The Kaduna State Government plans to spend N93 billion over four years for the rehabilitation of the water sector in four tranches to address the neglect the sector has suffered over the past 10 years.
Ibrahim Hamza, the Commissioner for Public Works and Infrastructure, disclosed this during a press briefing on Friday in Kaduna.
Hamza said that Gov.
Uba Sani has directed the payment of all outstanding salaries and wages to the staff of the Kaduna State Water Corporation (KADSWAC), amounting to N800 million.He further disclosed that the staff of the corporation would be put back on the state’s payroll until 2027 when it must have fully stabilised to run as a commercial entity.
The commissioner recalled that the Governor had declared a state of emergency in the water sector three months ago.
Hamza said , ” This led to the appointment of Kabir Rufai as the substantive Managing Director of KADSWAC.
”The corporation will collaborate with the local governments to maintain generator operations.
”This will strengthen existing water laws to support corporate employment policy.”
He said that the state was investing heavily in the rehabilitation and retrofitting of all water treatment plants and distribution mains, with an emphasis on sanitation and hygiene
Hamza said, “The N93 billion will be invested in four installments, starting with N17 billion this year.
“N35 billion will be invested next year, N30 billion will be invested in 2026 and N11 billion will be invested in 2027.” (NAN)
By Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has called on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to fix the internal crisis in the party as the PDP is capable of fixing the country.Makinde, who spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the Board of Governors and Unveiling of Roadmap for the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), said that as the nation approaches 2027 for another general election, it was clear that the PDP has the capacity to provide direction for Nigerians.
The Oyo State Governor, who was the special guest at the occasion, asked rhetorically, “What would you want to be remembered for? This is a question every politician who has had to serve at any capacity in our great nation should ask themselves. Because players would come and go.”The situation is so dynamic, but you have to be remembered for something.”From 2019, I’ve been benefitting from PDP. So, I want to say thank you to our great party, and all the stakeholders gathered here today, for giving me the opportunity to get not one, but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.”The only thing I can promise you is that since I have fetched water from that well I have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well when it is time for me to exit that position.”The journey to this day has not been all smooth, but I’m thankful that we are able to overcome all the obstacles along the way.”On the PDI, Makinde said that with inauguration of the institute Board of Governors, the PDP is moving a step closer to defining the ideology that the party stands for, and cementing what the party as a whole will want to be remembered for.He said, “Let me especially thank all the people that are members of the party that has put aside grievances, and played a role in the re-establishment and revitalisation of the PDI” recalling that the institute was formed during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.”So, one will take a pause and say okay, what happened during the 16 years of PDI in power nationally? “You can see that with the PDI, there is a pivotal rule, and during those years, we can rightly refer to as the golden years, because since we are working through the plan, we got debt forgiveness, we were interacting with everybody around the world, we were not in pariah relations,” he said.He called on members to rally round the party and set aside their differences, saying there was need for true reconciliation and unity to wrestle power from the APC in Ondo State, whose governorship election has been slated for November 16, 2024.In his contribution, former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, noted that parties are built on ideas, philosophies and policies, stressing the need to move away from building ideas on self and ambition.Sakari said: “We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party. We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is the foundation that is important. “Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, or who is running for governor, or who is running for president in 2027. Let us talk about what PDP is. What does PDP represent? What are the issues and policies that we must take into account?”This is what is important for us. This is what Nigerians outside want to know. This is what is important.”Earlier the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Amb Umar Damagum ,who was represented by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Hon. Umar Bature, said there needed to reposition and unite the party to play its opposition role.
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