The Senate has said that the implementation of the federal government’s National Livestock Transformation Plan is the solution to ending the Fulani herdsmen crisis and the farmers-herders conflicts in the country.
The Red chamber arrived at this resolution on Wednesday, after a debate on the quit notice given to the herders in Ondo forest reserves by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
Some lawmakers who contributed to a motion on insecurity sponsored by the senator representing Ondo North, Ajayi Boroface gave their views.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Senator representing Nasarawa West, Abdullahi Adamu, wondered why the governor would give such an order.
He said: “There are rights of residence. I don’t understand why a governor of a state will ask people who are not indigenes of his state to leave his state.
“While we see in the social media, houses of people that have been burnt who are not even from the state.
“We need to find out exactly the truth or otherwise of these allegations of killings as reported.”
Responding, Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said it is criminals that were ordered out of Ondo, not law-abiding Fulani.
He said: “No Nigerian is being sent away from anywhere. Criminals are being sent away from the forest where they are. When we come here and say such, you send the wrong message out.
“The message is simple, the police IG has told us, these are criminal elements coming from outside Nigeria and what we should ask ourselves is, if someone is a criminal, and he is in the forest, what is he doing there? We should not water down the issue to please whatever.”
After the debate, the senate asked the president to direct the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the new appointed service chiefs to overhaul the country’s security architecture.
It also urged the security agencies to monitor the country’s forests and combat the proliferation of small and light arms into the country.
