Should Nigerian farmers and natives consider carrying weapons to protect their land and line of business, if latest comments by a Nigerian Governor is anything to go by? The answer, it appears, is hanging in the air.
It was Governor Samuel Ortom (Benue), who first raised the spectre of Nigerians carrying arms to defend themselves against armed herdsmen and Fulani militia; then Governor Darius Ishaku (Taraba) repeated the fearful spectre suggested by Ortom.
To justify the suggestion on Thursday, Governor Umar Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano has confirmed that herdsmen carry weapons to protect themselves and their line of business.
Ganduje, who has been an opponent of movement of cattle from the north to the south, explained in a Channels Television interview on Thursday that climate change is forcing foreign herders, who carry firearms and no means of identification, into Nigeria; but criticised the influx of the foreign herders, advocating that the trend be stopped by the Federal Government.
His words: “The movement of cattle from one part of the country to another is not something new, even from some neighbouring countries. Foreign herders, because of climate change, they are moving into Nigeria with thousands of cattle….
“In those days, the cattle routes were enough because the population did not grow like now; farming activities because of population, was not like this. But there is a lot of encroachment.
“And not only encroachment, even the volume of cattle coming from West Africa to Nigeria has also increased because of the availability of grazing areas in the Middle Belt and in the southern part of the country….
“You cannot expect people to watch, people have to react and because of that they have learnt to carry weapons in order to protect themselves.
“And some of them are using the opportunity to carry illegal weapons, selling weapons in Nigerians and some are taking the opportunity to commit various types of criminality in the country.”