From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
A member of the House of Representatives, Ehiozuwa Agbonnayinma has called on the Edo State House of Assembly to enact a law prohibiting opening grazing of cattle in the state.
Agbonnayinma, who represents Ikpoba-Okha Federal Constituency of Edo State, made the call at the weekend in Abuja, while reacting to the menace of herdsmen in the state. He regretted that Fulani herdsmen have taken over the state, unleashing mayhem on the people.
The lawmaker urged the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and the state Assembly to urgently come up with a grazing law to regulate the activities of herdsmen in the state. He recalled that last week, some primary school pupils in his constituency were forced out of their classrooms by cattle, which took over the entire school.
“There is a great concern about the activities of herdsmen in my constituency. It is total failure on the side of the government. This is the time to act, so as to avoid a situation where our children are killed.
“The Edo State House of Assembly must come up with a bill to stop open grazing of cattle in the state. Don’t we know what to do that in a 21st century Nigeria, you see cows parading the streets. We are sitting on a keg of gun powder, we must not wait until it explodes. Herdsmen are same as Boko Haram,” he said.
Agbonnayinma said the most unfortunate aspect of the situation is that the herdsmen bear sophisticated weapon. He said that is an indication that there is more to the activities of the herdsmen than meets the eye.
“How do they acquire these weapons.That means that there are some persons behind these people. I am pleading with the governor of Edo State to take decisive actions to nip this thing in the bud, because prevention is better than cure,” the lawmaker stated.