Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has called for an organised resistance to attacks being perpetrated by armed herdsmen across the country.
Professor Soyinka told journalists in Lagos on Tuesday that the phenomenon of herdsmen and farmers clashes is not new but an issue that has graduated to an alarming state in the last eight years.
He described the armed herdsmen as a new breed of Boko Haram and internal colonialists.
“The important thing is the consciousness of a need for organised resistance against the incursion of cows.
“In Ogun State, we have formed a sort of informal organisation called OSHA, Ogun State Hunters Association and we intend to collaborate with similar movements, the police and the military,” he said.
Commending state governments who have set up organisations to protect their citizens from attacks by the armed herdsmen, Soyinka said these organisations need to be taken seriously and well equipped to successfully disarm the armed herdsmen and prevent recurrent invasions.
“I wish to commend the governors in the various organisation which are now beginning to understand that they must start policing themselves.
“If we want to take the phenomenon seriously, it will be to ensure that anytime they see an armed herdsman, they report to the nearest police station. If by a certain time that group of armed herdsmen are not disarmed, then this organisation will move and disarm them.”
The Nobel laureate said further that he is not happy with ‘the body language’ of the government in handling the matter.
He also condemned the proposal for the establishment of cattle colony, insisting that ranching is the preferred option to resolve the crisis.
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