Presidency speaks on need to stop Herdsmen from roaming around

Garba Shehu, media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari has acknowledged the need to stop herdsmen from roaming all over the country to prevent clashes with farmers.

This was made by the presidential aide while speaking in an interview on Channels Television when he reacted to an allegation of President Muhammadu Buhari grabbing lands to dole out to herdsmen.

Shehu blamed the actions of the herdsmen on the drying of grazing lands in the north.

The presidential spokesperson noted that these herdsmen drive their cows to farmlands to eat up crops, leading to clashes with farmers.

In his words: “This country has a grazing problem because the herders are mostly Fulanis. The challenge is from these places they had practiced, you know, the encroachment by desert leading to drying up of a lot of grazing lands in the northern-most parts of the country.

“This has put pressure on the herders who have been looking to the south-west green grass so that their cattle will eat and also have water to drink. It’s a global climate situation which is unfortunate considering what has happened along the lake chad basin.

“I’m glad that governors of the north are coming together to say let us resolve this problem of grazing because we have to stop these herders from roaming and eating up our crops all over the country.

“They drive their cattle into farmlands and eat up the crops. The farmers fight back and the killings follow. The country cannot continue in this way.

“The president has no plan to fish for a land other than the one he has inherited from his father. Some of them have even be donated for community purposes but I think we need to get our facts right when we speak on some of these issues.”