From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has commended the southern governors for placing a ban on open grazing in the region.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko and the Director of Media Affairs, Zainab Yusuf, in a statement, stated that the decision would put an end to the atrocities committed by some killer herdsmen who hide under the guise of grazing to destroy people’s farmlands and rape women.
‘The decision of the Southern Governors to give an implementable deadline for the enforcement of the ban on open grazing of cows is worthwhile.
‘The arbitrary, unilateral and unconstitutional move by President Muhammadu Buhari to violate the extant Land Use Act of 1978 just to carve out lands from all over the country for the purposes of unbridled open grazing by private owners of cows who are mostly Muhammadu Buhari’s kinsmen was an affront to the principles of federalism and the clear provisions of the Land Use Act.
‘The human rights group has also asked the Governors of southern Nigeria to stand their ground and resist any attempt no matter how brazen by President Muhammadu Buhari to illegally annex the ancestral lands of their states and their native peoples, a presidential action that is at variance with the provisions of the Land Use Act without due process,’ the statement read.
The governors took the decision on Monday during a closed-door meeting in Lagos State.
The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who read the communique shortly after the meeting, said the members jointly agreed on the date.
The governors, who warned the security agencies in the country not to operate in their various states without permission from the governor in charge, also insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor must emerge from the region.