Ijaw stakeholders under the aegis of Ijaw Nation Forum (INF), an online social mobilisation platform for the Ijaws, have queried Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, over the controversial allocation of grazing land in Yenagoa measuring about 1200 hectares, to cattle herdsmen.
In an open letter addressed to the governor dated 6 July, 2017 entitled, “The menace of the cattle herdsmen and Ijaw peoples’ security”, the forum questioned the rationale behind the allocation of the grazing area to the herdsmen.
In the letter signed by Benedict Amaebi Okoro, INF’s moderator, the forum asked Dickson to ‘give reasons why Bayelsa State, in the South-South region, seems to have officially established grazing land for the cattle herders from outside the state’. The INF also asked the governor to explain how the cattle would access the allocated space without passing through other areas.
The letter read in part: “There have been several ugly stories coming from nearby Delta and Edo States, concerning the livelihood threatening activities of these herdsmen in recent times. Are there other measures Bayelsa State has adopted to prevent such occurrences, aside from the grazing land already allocated to the herdsmen?
“How did the Bayelsa State government reach the conclusion that allocation of grazing land to herdsmen would be beneficial to an average Ijaw person; and was consideration given to the atrocities being committed by these herdsmen elsewhere in the country, in reaching that conclusion?
“Is the allocation of grazing land to the herdsmen another expansion of Bayelsa business initiative? Is the allocation of grazing land to herdsmen a public/private partnership project and what percentage is the state government providing in funding it?”
The letter requested the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between government and the partner, in case such was reached by both parties in order to ensure peace and order and safeguard lives and properties in the state.