‘Fayose urge other governor to ban cattle grazing’

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has called on his colleagues across the country to ban cattle grazing in their states as a step to stop the incessant killings of farmers by Fulani herdsmen.

Fayose had, on Monday, banned cattle grazing in Ekiti State following the attack on Oke Ako community in the Ikole Local Government Area of the state, where two persons were killed and others were injured by suspected herdsmen.

The Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communication and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, said this while speaking on RAVE FM, Osogbo, during a programme, Frank Talk, monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday.

The governor’s aide said President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected by Nigerians to protect their lives and property, was not doing anything to protect the defenceless people from frequent attacks by the rampaging herdsmen, who were his kinsmen.

He said, “The people are angry because the person elected to secure their lives is keeping quiet and taking sides with these Fulani criminals, I don’t want to call them herdsmen. Herdsmen, to my mind, do not carry AK-47 rifles.

“These people are another version of Boko Haram that should be tackled headlong. We saw the Agatu killings and we don’t need to wait till they kill over 400 people before we act. That was why we took this step (banning of cattle grazing) in Ekiti. I want to believe other governors will emulate this.”

Virtually all those who called during the programme urged the governors, especially those in the southern part of the country, to emulate Fayose to liberate their people from herdsmen’s attacks.

One of the callers, Femi Adetunji, commended Fayose for taking the step, saying this would stop his people from being constantly terrorised by the herdsmen.

Two other callers, Vincent Olufemi from Moro and Michael Folayan, also condemned the activities of the herdsmen and called on other governors to emulate Fayose.

Some of the callers said they never agreed with Fayose on any issue before the ban but expressed their support for him on the new policy.

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