Women and Youths, under the umbrella of Women, Youths, Peace and Security Network, have given the federal government 30 days to end continuous killing of innocent citizens by Fulani herdsmen.
The Spokesman of the group, Mr. Andy Iji, made this known while addressing a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
He urged the Federal Government to not only make an emphatic statement supporting the Ranching of Cattle as the best practice around the world, but also drop the idea of cattle colony.
According to Iji, if the killer herdsmen identified by the Federal Government were not Nigerians, they should be rightly profiled and deported from Nigeria immediately.
He said while the group was not calling for further breakdown of law and order over the issue of herdsmen killings, as it believed that a peaceful and secured Nigeria would go a long way to supporting the development of the nation, there was need for the police and other government owned security agencies to be proactive instead of reactionary as always being the practice.
He added that if within the next four weeks, the Federal Government failed to make visible efforts to implement its recommendations, the group will lead other women and youths to shutdown the nation.
The group also appealed to members of the National Assembly to criminalise open grazing and also enact law that clearly spells out punishment for cattle rustling as well as convene security summit for their constituency and fashion out the immediate actions to be taken with a view to protecting the lives and properties of their people.
“The continues killings of innocent citizens in cold blood across Nigeria has given us sleepless nights as an organization whose duty is to speak on behalf of women and youths on issues concerning peace and security.
“There is hardly a day without an attack from the herdsmen. In these killings, women and children are mainly the victims. We are profoundly disappointed with the inability of the government to protect lives and properties.
“We have heard the Federal government saying that the killers are not the Nigerian Herdsmen. Yes that is what we want to believe, because we love the Nigerian Fulani herdsmen and we patronize their businesses and respect them. But, the Nigerian air is contaminated with the blood of the innocents and the Creator is angry with us.
“While acknowledging the efforts of the federal government by deploying police men to Benue state and other flash points, we demand of this administration to urgently put an end to these killings by cultists and armed herdsmen.
“It is about time the Federal government, state governments and the communities consider the recommendations herewith and implement them urgently.
“The federal Government must profile the herdsmen and deport those that migrated into the country illegally; make an emphatic statement supporting the Ranching of Cattle as the best practice around the world and drop the idea of cattle colony; order the police and other government owned security agencies to be proactive instead of reactionary as always being the practice; provision the needed equipment for the security operatives to perform optimally; and, arrest as well as prosecute the killers openly and promptly.
“We give the benefit and latitude of 4 weeks to the Federal government to make implementation of our recommendations visible. The federal government of Nigeria must lead by example. Otherwise, we would lead a nationwide protest against the inability of the Nigerian government to secure its people,” he said.
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