From Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti

Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday, took exception to the threat of reprisal attack by the Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), an umbrella body of herdsmen, which alleged that some of their cattle were killed in the state last Saturday.
The governor urged Ekiti people to be on alert against any attack by herdsmen, saying: “I am using this opportunity to put Ekiti people, especially residents of border towns in the state on red alert. Ekiti people must be prepared to defend their land against these Philistines whose attributes and characters are extremism, violence, bloodshed and destruction.”
Reacting to the governor’s inauguration of the Ekiti Grazing Law Enforcement Marshals (EGEM)  Miyetti Allah had said, in a statement, last weekend, that the Federal Government must intervene in the inauguration of security marshals by the state governor, which it alleged has shot five of its members’ cows.
The group also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the governor to order. MACBAN, in the statement signed by its spokesman, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said: “Fayose unleashed the marshals against our members whose herds of cattle had gone to a stream at Agon Bridge on Federal Polytechnic Road between 2.00p.m and 2.30p.m to quench their thirst on Friday, October 21,” and claimed that “the vigilance group shot five cows and carted away the meat but the herdsman was able to flee with the rest of his cattle.”
Regardless, Fayose dismissed MACBAN’s claims as untrue and disclosed that the five cows are in custody of the state government.
Furious at the threat, Fayose wondered if the lives of cattle are more important than that of human beings and asked why the group did not write the president when their colleagues were killing hundreds in Benue and Plateau states. Why didn’t Miyetti Allah, which is now calling on President Buhari to warn me, custodian of the mandate of Ekiti people, warn its members when they were killing Nigerians and destroying farmlands? Are their cows more important than human lives?
“To us in Ekiti, lives of 5,000 cows cannot be equated with those of human beings who are being killed daily by herdsmen across the country. MACBAN should know that cattle farmers are not different from other farmers. If they want to rear cows in Ekiti, they should do so in accordance with the laws of the state. After all, law prohibiting sale and consumption of alcohol was made in Kano State and the law is being enforced while Sharia Law made in some states in the North is also being enforced.”
The governor, who recalled the herdsmen’s killing of hundreds in some parts of the country in the name of the same reprisal attack, further said: “Nigerians should be reminded that in May, MACBAN said openly that the reason for the killing of over 1,000 people in Benue State was the killing of over 800 cattle by Tiv youths…
In other words, Miyetti Allah boldly told Nigerians that its members (herdsmen) killed over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State because their cows were killed!
“Up till today, no one has been arrested for the massacre in Agatu in Benue State and now, Ekiti State and its people are being threatened by this same MACBAN, and the Federal Government pretended as if nothing was wrong.
“From the words and antecedents of the association, it is clear that they have assurance beyond their personal minds from the Federal Government to kill Nigerians in place of their cows. If not, by now, the man who signed that press statement, threatening the entire people of Ekiti State ought to have been arrested and questioned.
“Therefore, in view of the above, we wish to tell Nigerians and the entire world that in the event of any invasion of Ekiti State by killer herdsmen, the Federal Government should be held responsible.
“In the event of Federal Government’s security agencies refusal to secure lives and property of Ekiti people, the people will have no option than to defend themselves. Our forefathers did the same in the famous Kiriji War and we won’t mind doing the same now.”
He also reiterated his resolve on the grazing law, saying: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Prohibition of Cattle and other Ruminants Grazing in Ekiti State Bill, 2016 that was signed into law on August 29 remains in force.
“Therefore, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria should rather tell its members to comply with this law by seeking from the government designated land for grazing ranch, which the government is always willing to give.
“It is strange that the MACBAN kept silent when its members killed two people and injured several others in Oke Ako in Ekiti State. So strange that the same Miyetti Allah that defended the murder of over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State and kept silent when herdsmen killed over 100 people
in Enugu State and a traditional ruler was killed in Delta State suddenly found its voice when Ekiti State Government decided to curb the murderous activities of its men.