Anglican Bishop to Buhari: Address indiscriminate killings in the country.

THE Bishop of Diocese of Akure, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt Revd Simeon Borokinni, has condemned the increasing and indiscriminate killings by herdsmen in the country, calling on PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to address and disarm the herdsmen immediately.

Borokinni who made this call during the 3rd Session of the 12th Synod in St Thomas Anglican Church, Akure, themed: “Working towards perfection,” decried the spates of insecurities across the nation and charged the President Muhammadu Buhari led the administration to find a lasting solution to the killings across the country

The clergy said “government appears either powerless to curb their activities or deliberately, purposely and intentionally indifferent,” recounting that government had dealt with such deadly groups in the past.

“Why is dealing with the herdsmen and difficult task for the government? This is a question making Nigerians lose confidence in the present Federal administration.

“Government must disarm these murderous herdsmen. It should, therefore, not be allowed to degenerate any further in the interest of all, and the Nigeria nation.”

Borokini frowned over the introduction and proposed the creation of cattle colony and ranches in the country, saying cattle colony is grave injustice and corruption of the highest order.

He noted that the creation of the cattle colony would accord some set of people with unwarranted special preference and makes them indigenes of all regions of the country.

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Borokini specifically noted that cattle rearing is a private business whose profits are neither shared with government nor landowners and should be treated as a private business.

He noted that the explosive increase in population has made land inadequate for the natives, advising that ranches should be built in the herdsmen localities for modern animal husbandry.

“Nobody’s land should, therefore, be forcefully or be given to another person under any guise. It will be grave injustice and corruption of the highest order to spend taxpayers’ money on the private business of a set of people.”

The clergy described the problem of the Fulani herdsmen as a nationwide menace, and supported the outcry against it, saying “cattle ranching is not welcome in Ondo State.

“Many damages have been done by cattle on the farms of our people, most of who depend mainly on farming as their major source of livelihood.

“The idea of cattle ranching will not bring the solution expected, but rather more problem may emerge if the idea of cattle ranching is forced on the people of our state,” he said.

Borokinni, who also charged the Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, to give priority to the security of lives in the state especially in volatile areas, and commended the Federal Government and the state for minimum wage review and infrastructural development projects respectively.

He charged for politicians ahead of the 2019 general elections to deliver on electoral promises to the citizens, whom he urged to register and vote for the credible representative.

Similarly, the clergy implored Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove all the bottlenecks experienced in the 2015 elections and “to work harder to make registration of voters as smooth as possible.”