South-East Governors Ban Open Grazing – Umahi
Governor of Ebonyi State and the Chairman, Southeast Governors Forum, Dave Umahi has reiterated the ban on open grazing in the region.
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had at the weekend given the Governors in the region seven days to join their South West counterparts in banning open grazing.
But the Governor, while reacting to Kanu’s ultimatum, disclosed that the Governors did not just stop at banning open grazing but also restricted the movement of cattle by foot.
Umahi spoke on Monday during the of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders meeting in Abakaliki, the state capital.
“Governors of South East have been calling on our leaders to speak out on the security of the zone and unity of Nigeria,” he said.
“I read on paper where someone said he was giving Governors of South East 7-days to ban open grazing.
“The Governors of the southeast had banned open grazing and movement of cows by foot into South East, in each of States of the South East, we are managing ourselves well, what we discuss with the herdsmen is the system in place for a long time,” he said.
The Chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum cautioned people of the zone against instigating crises in the country through the dissemination of fake videos alleging killing of Fulanis by IPOB in the South East.
“What our people must know is that Security is not political, what is demanded of the leaders is to put up programs that favors the people and foster national unity”
Gov. Umahi announced his support for the call to flush out criminal elements from forests across the nation to boost the security of the country.
“In our forests today, we have the kidnappers, herdsmen, cultists, all sorts of criminals, anybody staying in the forest is taking a risk, when we say that people should move out of the forests, it is for their safety and security, so I support that kidnappers, herdsmen, cultists, and bandits should be flushed out of our forests”
The Governor used the occasion to officially flag off the APC Revalidation and Registration Committee and charged the Caretaker Committees to ensure the successful conduct of the exercise.
He thanked stakeholders of the party for attending the meeting and observing the COVID19 protocol, insisting that the State remains APC.
“Let me thank our leaders for their commitment to the welfare of our party; Ebonyi State is complete and Ebonyi State is APC”
