Members of the Anambra State House of Assembly have raised the alarm over the activities of herdsmen in the state.
The members representing Anambra West Constituency, Hon. Victor Okoye and his counterpart, representing Orumba North Constituency, Hon. Romanus Obi raised the alarm on the floor of the house during plenary session on Friday.
Okoye who is the Majority Leader in the House, said of great concern was the destruction of crops in some communities in Anambra West Council Area by cattle belonging to Fulani herdsmen, without recourse to the agreement they reached with the state government.
The lawmaker in a motion titled “Need to curtail the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Anambra State,” lamented that the Federal Government appeared to have left the people to their fate.
Okoye told the house that suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked some communities in Anambra West Council Area where they destroyed crops and sacked a lot of persons from their various farmlands in his constituency.
He appealed to the State Government to intervene and stop the carnage in his area.
On his part, the member representing Orumba North Constituency, Chief Romanus Obi, regretted that despite measures put in place by the Federal Government to end incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers by carving some areas as grazing routes, destruction of farm lands by cattle still persisted.
He lamented that, “Since this destructive attack, it has been observed that no farmer in the communities have engaged in farming activities for fear of being killed.
“I am concerned about the heinous and criminal activities being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen who ravage communities, depriving persons of right to life and prosperity, raping, defiling women and destroying farm crops amongst other criminal activities across the country.
“Despite the public outcry and previous resolutions of the National Assembly as regards the criminal activities of herdsmen, there seems to be no visible action on the part of government to curtail or totally stop the criminal activities of these criminal elements among Fulani herdsmen.”
The lawmaker who quoted section 33(1) of chapter (iv) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), said “every person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in the execution of a court sentence in respect of criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.
“The Africa Chapter on Human and Peoples Right of which Nigeria is a signatory also provides for Right to Life and Respect for Integrity of Persons, Freedom from Slavery, Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading treatment
“Section 43 of the constitution provides that every citizen shall have a right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.
“The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) in section 14(b) clearly provides that the Security and Welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
He warned that the situation might get worse if drastic action was not taken.
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