The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, urged the Federal Government to put a halt to the entry of herdsmen from other African countries into Nigeria.
The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion on the ‘need to stop the entry of herdsmen from other African countries’ sponsored by the Minority Leader, Hon Ndudi Elumelu.
This is coming amidst unabated cases of herdsmen and bandit attacks on innocent citizens including women and children across the country.
In his lead debate, Hon Elumelu observed that in recent years, herdsmen have been on the rampage, destroying farmlands, burning villages and killing of innocent Nigerians indiscriminately in many states across the federation.
He also expressed displeasure over the repeated statement from the Nigerian security agents that “those herdsmen are not Nigerians but migrants from other African countries.
ALSO READ:Â George Floyd to be buried today as global anti-racism protests spread
“The House is concerned that those herdsmen who are militant in nature have consistently instilled fear in lives local farmers and villagers living in the affected areas by the use of coercion, intimidation, brute force and extreme violence, in most cases, leaving a large number of persons dead.
“The House is also concerned that the violent conflicts between the nomadic herders from neighbouring countries and local farmers is escalating by the day to more states of the federation, and if left unchecked will further threaten the security and stability of the nation.
“The House is further concerned that the clashes are becoming potentially as dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, yet to date, response to the crisis at both the federal and state levels have been very poor and ineffectively.
“The House believes that it has become necessary to lend a voice to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State that a stop be put to the movement of herdsmen from other African countries to Nigeria, so as to curb the rate of crime and conflicts associated with their movements across Nigeria,” he noted.
To this end, the House mandated the Committees on Police Affairs, Army and Interior to interface with the Inspector General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian and Immigration Service respectively on the best ways of policing and securing the Nigeria borders and report back within four weeks.
and then