President General of Mdzough U Tiv, Edward Ujege has rubbished the call by the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali that states should suspend the anti-open grazing law, following the continued crisis between herdsmen and farmers across the country.
Dan-Ali had explained that the enactment of the law was responsible for the continued crisis between herdsmen and farmers across the country.
Some states of the Federation enacted the Anti-Open Grazing Law as a panacea to the persistent crisis between herdsmen and farmers.
States that have so far enacted the Anti-Open Grazing Law include, Benue, Abia and Nasarawa states, despite calls for its suspension.
Following the enactment of the law, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Associations have vowed to opposedthe law since there was no alternative yet for cattle rearers.
According to Ujege, “That man is an Illiterate who is not qualified to be a Minister. He doesn’t know how to respond to issues. He is not current with what is happening in the country. Out of the 36 states in the country, three-quarter is being ravaged by herdsmen, do those other people have the laws enacted in their state? For instance in Plateau, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Zamfara, Ondo and Enugu states where there are killings, do they have the law? That is why I said the man is an illiterate and not current with what is going on.
“If he is current with the constitution, he will understand that it empowers the National Assembly and the state governments to make laws for the benefit of people that are there. Mind you, we are not in a military rule that we are living by decrees but by constitutions and laws that are being made. And he should know that by repealing a law you have to go back to the people that made it, that is the reasons why I said he is an illiterate. We are not in a military regime and he doesn’t know what is happening in the country. Mansur is not qualified to be in that position, he should resign.”
Ujege said the people of the state have turned to God as their source of defence since they have no money to buy arms.
The Tiv elder statesman noted that people of the state will continue to ensure their defence until normalcy returns to the state.
“We don’t have arms and don’t intend to in Benue State. I think our God is heavier than those with arms, we are telling the government now that we have a God and he will fight for us. We don’t have AK-47, we don’t have the money to buy them. Benue people don’t have any means but to depend on God. We know that we will be killed but not everybody. The few remaining and those unborn will deal with this until we find haven for ourselves,” he added.
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