By Vincent Kalu
National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bodejo, has said that members of his group will not comply with the ban on movement of livestock in Kaduna State.
Faced with intractable challenges in Kaduna State, Governor Nasir El-Rufai had in a statement by Samuel Aruwan, commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, banned the transportation of livestock in and out of Kaduna State.
Bodejo in his reaction, said the governor should come up with a Plan B, which included free food and free medical treatment.
“I don’t know the problems with the governors that are banning movements of cattle in their respective states. Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai is a Fulani and he should know that the life of the Fulani man depends on his cattle; if he is sick, he sells them to get treatment, if he is hungry, he sells the cows to buy food so that he would not starve to death.
“So, if the government wants to ban free movements of cattle, then they should be prepared to come up with Plan B for these people, which include the provision of free food for them and their family members, free medical treatment for them and their family, because their means of survival have been stopped.
“We are not in support of this policy, but I heard it was meant to curb the insecurity in those states. To deal with the security challenges is good, but for it to work, the governors concerned should come up with a plan to make sure that our people do not suffer.
“We are not the reason for the insecurity; people are rustling our cows, thereby impoverishing our people. They would steal the cows and transport them to the South. We are the biggest victims of this insecurity; we don’t have a perimeter fence or barb wire to secure our homes, we are suffering in our areas.
“This law is difficult to obey if the affected people are hungry. How can you obey the law if you are dying. So, if they want the law to be obeyed, they should get our people something doing, while providing them free food and medical treatment.