MACBAN replies those calling herdsmen terrorists, reveals what will end killings
Kebbi chapter of Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite its plan to establish cattle colonies to end herdsmen-farmers' clashes. Alhaji Muhammad Dan-Ali, the state Chairman of MACBAN, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday that the cattle colonies would reduce the migration of herdsmen and encourage their settlement in particular locations. The climate change and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East as well as the activities of cattle rustlers have made the pastoralists to migrate to the southern part of the country in search of pasture. In the past, importation of foreign feeds for our cattle was never contemplated but it has now become a routine for the government to import varieties of crops for farmers to thrive in the country. Are we not Nigerians? He quipped. Dan-Ali condemned those calling for the declaration of the association as a terrorist organisation. What has our association got to do with terrorism? We have been in existence ever since the colonial era and the colonialists understood our value in the society. Nowadays, due to politics, everything has been turned upside down, he added. He said that those calling on the Federal Government to declare herdsmen as terrorists were ignorant of the nations history, adding that they also had evil machinations aimed at destroying the peace and unity of the country. He said that the cordial relations existing between MACBAN and the Kebbi Government had fostered good farmers-herdsmen relationship and made Kebbi the most peaceful state in the country.