South East youths ask governors to ban open grazing in Igboland
Alarmed by the recent attack by suspected herdsmen on Enyanwu Igwe community in Izzi Council Area of Ebonyi State where four persons were killed and several properties destroyed, the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has asked South East governors to ban open grazing in Igboland.
Rising from a meeting in Enugu, the group accused the Federal Government of ‘double standard’ in the handling of issues involving herdsmen in the country.
In a statement by its president, Okechukwu Isiguzoro and secretary, Okwu Nnabuike, OYC expressed concern over the development in Ebonyi, threatening that it would be forced into “taking laws into our hands should the Federal Government fail to rise to its responsibilities and disarm the marauding herdsmen.”
The youths recalled that herdsmen had invaded many Igbo communities, adding that even when they had created casualties by their action, government had treated them with “kid gloves” and that the incident in Ebonyi was no exception.
The statement reads in part: “We duly denounce this dastardly act that receives Federal Government’s protective coverage allowing the herdsmen to traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria with firearms, killing people at will.
“We cannot toil to feed ourselves only to have herdsmen invade our farmlands and graze on our crops and then turn to kill us for raising a voice against their cow-rearing methods,” the group said.
