By Mofoluwake Omololu, Abuja.
Lime a cracked record, Senate Wednesday, again, asked security agencies to fish out, halt, apprehend and bring to justice the criminals posing as herdsmen destroying lives and property around the country.
The upper chamber condemned the criminal activities the herdsmen who use the cover of their trade to perpetrate destruction on people’s farms and engage in other criminal activities.
The house observed a minute of silence for those who died in an attack by the Herdsmen in Edo Central Senatorial District and other previous attacks across Nigeria.
IT urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately visit Ewu community to measure the extent of damage done in a bid to provide relief materials to bereaved families and other persons currently displaced or denied access to their farmlands.
Senator representing Edo Central, Senator Clifford Ordinary,oted that the evil activities of the herdsmen have prevented his constituents from going to their farms for fear of being killed. He reiterated the heinous and criminal activities of killing, raping destructions of farms, which has become the bane of many communities from the north to the south of the country.
‘’Saddened that despite the public outcry and previous resolutions of the National Assembly as regards the criminal activities of herdsmen, there seems to be no visible action on the part of government to curtail, abate or totally stop the criminal activities of these criminal elements among Fulani Herdsmen,’’ he said.
“On the 22nd of May, 2017, these ravaging Herdsmen entered into farmland located in Ewu Community, Esan Central Local Government of Edo State raping two women, Mrs. Martina Emoyon and Mrs. Ariu and strangled them to death, destroyed crops and sacked a lot of persons from their various farmlands”.
‘’Since this destructive attack, it has been observed that no farmer in the communities have engaged in farming activities for fear of being killed”.
He averred that Section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended clearly provides that the Security and Welfare of the people shall be the purpose of government, adding that the Federal Government’s response so far to killings and raping of women by the herdsmen tends to aparty and callousness.
Reacting to the development, Senator Francis Alimikhena, representing Edo North, said that the herdsmen have become a problem to the country, stating that their criminality has assumed the same proportion of the Boko Haram insurgency.
‘’Where are we going in this country? Instead of blowing whistle that is not fruitful, security operatives should be deployed to Edo state to fish out criminal elements disguising as herdsmen in the country”, he stated.
Senate urged the federal government to immediately attend to the health needs of Ehimen Donald Abuya who was allegedly shot by the suspected herdsmen and presently lies critically ill at Irrua Specialist Hospital with a bid to securing adequate and proper treatment for him.