By Bisola Adeyemo
As a measure to end persistent clashes with farmers the federal government said on Tuesday that it will stop herdsmen from roaming all over the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu said, “We have to stop these herders from roaming and eating up crops all over the country.
“They drive their cattle into farmlands and they eat up crops and the farmers fight back and the killings follow. This country cannot continue in this way.”
The president’s aide blamed the indiscriminate movement of the herdsmen on climatic conditions saying, “The encroachment by desert leading to the drying up of a lot of grazing lands in the northern-most parts of the country has put pressure on the herders who are looking southwards for green grass so that their cattle will eat and also have water to drink.
“It’s a global climate change situation which is unfortunate, considering what has happened around Lake Chad basin itself drying to up about only 10 percent of its original size.”
NatureNews reports that some states of the federation have already enacted laws prohibiting open grazing.
