Grazing Routes Must Be Brought Back To End Herdsmen Crisis – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari is of the opinion that the re-establishment of grazing routes to ensure herdsmen cater for their cattle undisturbed all over Nigeria will be key to ending the crisis between the herders and farmers, especially in the Middle Belt region.

The battle for access and control of lands has led to constant deaths involving local farmers with several herdsmen being pointed at for various of the shameless attacks.

But Buhari has come out to say that scrapping grazing routes has resulted in the massive increase in the issue and a solution can be provided if the routes are brought back.

His words, “But those of you who are neighbours to cattle rearers, Nigerian cattle herders use to carry only sticks and their machetes to cut foliage for the cattle. But these are cattle herders with weapons like AK-47.

“But the problem is that you can hardly identify the difference between cattle herders from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and other cattle herders. They look the same but I was accused of not doing anything about those operating locally but I took the governor (Benue’s Samuel Ortom) on this and this is one of the reasons he left our party for another party.

“Because I told him the cattle herders and settlers problem in Nigeria is older than myself not to talk of him and at first republic, there were cattle routes, they put infrastructures and even veterinary.

“But the so-called politicians because they are so much in a hurry to make money they acquire some of these lands and turned them into their private farms.

“So, if you are a cattle herder or you know about cattle, like myself, the herders now pass through anybody’s land to find water for their cattle to drink.

“I told Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture, to look at the gazette of the first republic to get the cattle routes and get the grazing routes and re-establish them so that we can reduce this incidence. Some of you here know the efforts we are making.”