Usman Ngelzarma is the national secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and he is not happy with the Nigerian news media.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, April 25, he said that members of the association had lost over two million cows to rustlers in the last two years. Speaking in Jalingo, he also said no fewer than 600 members of the association were killed, while several others were kidnapped for ransom.
Ngelzarma said that the herdsmen were attacked, killed and their animals forcefully taken away in many parts of the country. He accused the Nigerian media saying: “In spite of all these, a section of the Nigerian media deliberately refused to report the crime committed against the herdsmen."
The national secretary also condemned what he called the politicisation of the herdsmen and farmers conflict in the country. He said that the herdsmen were always accused of crime, even in situations where they were the victims of attack.
He also gave examples of where criminals disguised in Fulani attires commit crimes in some states like Benue, Enugu, Anambra and southern Kaduna, in order to give the herdsmen a bad name. According to him, the constant problems between herdsmen and farmers could be traced to lack of communication.
If dialogue and proper conflict management skills are adopted, he felt most of the conflicts could easily have been averted. However, he commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, for initiating peace and reconciliation meetings between herdsmen and farmers in the country, with a view to achieving realistic solutions.
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