Farmers, herders clashes not religious – FG
The Federal Government has said that the clashes between farmers and herders are not religious or ethnic crises as many have been made to believe.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said yesterday at a special town hall meeting on herders/farmers clashes, explained that the clashes were not unconnected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics and criminality.
He warned that Nigerians must not allow criminals to exploit their anger and emotion to continue to perpetrate their evil scheme.
The minister noted that governors and council chairmen of major flash points would be panelists in the next edition of the meeting .
The Mayeetiallah group, represented by Baba Othman Ngelzarma, maintained that it would be difficult to make herders adopt the ranching arrangement as pushed by the representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Peter Ogunmuyiwa and Rev. Father Chris Bologo, who represented John Cardinal Onayekan.
The clerics posited that it was time for a shift from the old way of rearing livestock to the modern way, which is ranching.
The meeting had seven minister including Defence (Monsur Dan Ali), Interior (Ibrahim Dambazau), Agriculture (Audu Ogbe) as well as those of Minister of Water and Minister of Environment in attendance.
