Okowa urges FG to curb herdsmen menace

Delta State governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has urged the Federal Government to adopt measures to curb incessant farmers and herders clash in the country.

The governor made the call on Saturday at the 21st Ogwa Ika and 17th Ika Ka Mma annual lecture series organised by Onu Ika Nigeria at Abavo, Ika South Local Government Area of the state.

He disclosed that his administration was doing its best to check the havoc being wreacked by Fulani herdsmen through interface with critical stakeholders.

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Okowa, however, regretted that his efforts had been restrained by his limited control of security apparatus.

He decried the frequent herdsmen attack and killing of defenceless farmers and other Nigerians, and insisted that the Federal Government must curb the menace.

The governor also urged the government to tell Nigerians the steps it had taken to stem the ugly trend.

On the migration of youths seeking greener pastures in foreign countries and increasing child-trafficking cases, he charged parents and caregivers to live up to their responsibility by openly condemning the act and restraining their children from embarking on such dangerous journeys.

Okowa condemned the situation where parents mount undue pressure on their children and wards to embark on journey to Europe through the desert, saying that the lives of many promising Nigerians had been lost in the process.

He commended Onu Ika for organising an annual essay competition for secondary schools in Ikaland, and urged the people to encourage government to carry out development projects through the donation of land.

Earlier, the Head, Collective Leadership, Onu Ika Nigeria, Mr Daniel Usifor, had said in an address that “for three consecutive years, Onu Ika has consistently warned of the devastating effects of the influx of these deadly Fulani herdsmen into our communities.

“We even saw them as foot soldiers on reconnaissance mission waiting for orders to act; we also cautioned that there is an undeclared war in Nigeria.”

He urged the government to take actions to check the menace of herdsmen and thanked the governor for his administration’s commitment to the development of the state.