Worried by the rate of clashes between herders and farmers in the South
\nEast geopolitical zone, a Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party
\n(PDP) in Imo State, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu has condemned the
\nidea of open gracing across the nation.<\/p>\n
Senator Anyanwu therefore gave the nod for the establishment of ranches
\nin various states, maintaining that the policy, when adopted would not
\nonly checkmate the movement of mercenaries and infiltrators, but capable
\nof fostering peace across the country.<\/p>\n
According to him, “open gracing remains the cause of incessant communal
\ncrises in Nigeria leading to wanton killings and destruction of
\nproperties”, pointing out that until the policy was played down, the
\ncountry would continue to battle with insecurity.<\/p>\n
Anyanwu, popularly known as SamDaddy further expressed worry over
\nworsening Fulani herders and farmers’ crisis across the country with
\nmuch emphasis to the South East, appealing to the Federal Government to
\nassist the states to establish cattle ranches.<\/p>\n
“Open gracing is illegal and unconstitutional. If the 1969 statutory
\nlaws of the federation could ban it, who else has the right to revive or
\nreintroduce it without going through the due process of the law.”<\/p>\n
“Through open gracing, the South East geopolitical zone in particular
\nhas lost their innocent citizens to herdsmen who roam about their farm
\nlands, and destroy cash crops with impunity. I totally stand against
\nit.”<\/p>\n
“The only way to monitor these killer herdsmen and infiltrators in and
\naround communities is to encourage the establishment of ranches. By so
\ndoing, the identities of every cattle rustler will be documented and
\ncheckmated for security reasons. On the other way round, ownership of
\nranch, be it public or private, no one, even government has the right to
\ngrab people’s lands without proper compensation in the name of building
\nranch(s).”<\/p>\n
The Ikeduru LGA born Lawmaker also expressed regret the manner in which
\ntop security chiefs of Igbo extraction were been retired whenever they
\nwere due to climb the highest security ladder, describing it as an
\norchestrated plot by enemies of the country to silence the Igbos from
\nthe security architecture of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Senator Anyanwu, a onetime Chairman of Senate Committee on Ethics,
\nPrivileges and Public Petitions further stressed that ownership of ranch
\nby private individuals or state governments would address the recurring
\nclashes between farmers and herders, wondering how the lapses could be
\ncurbed in the South East when her top security chiefs were booted out
\nunceremoniously.<\/p>\n
While calling on South East Governors to immediately summon a security
\nmeeting involving stakeholders and community leaders in the zone, added
\nthat such meeting would address the issue of open gracing, which is
\ntargeted at grabbing people’s lands in negation to the constitution of
\nthe federal republic of Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Worried by the rate of clashes between herders and farmers in the South East geopolitical zone, a Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n