Paul Orude, Bauchi
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi has vowed that his administration would not allow armed banditry to take over the state.
The governor stated this, yesterday, when he inaugurated an Administrative Committee of Inquiry into land disputes between herders and farmers caused by land use abuse and illegal allocation in local government areas in the state.
“We must not allow our state to be a sanctuary for criminality. We know what is happening in other places like Zamfara and Katsina states, and such unwholesome attitudes by the authorities, traditional institutions and even public servants and politicians behind all these,” he said.
The governor said discrepancies in land allocation and usurpation of passage on land for herdsmen were the monsters bedevilling Nigerians’ common heritage and existence as a state, country or a nation.
He warned that government would no longer tolerate actions by individuals or group of persons that leads to clashes and breach of land laws.
“As a government that has the safety and well-being of its people at heart, we will not fold our arms, and therefore. It has become imperative to set up this larger and powerful committee that is all embracing, involving all departments and agencies that has to do with management of our lands and forests in the local government areas of the state to look at similar problems and challenges in order to address them holistically,”he said.
He said the committee would visit all the 20 LGAs, government reserve forests with a view ascertaining their sanctity or otherwise, investigate and determine if such reserved areas are being illegally allocated by unauthorised persons or group of persons, and those persons who are beneficiaries of such illegal allocations.