CATTLE COLONIES: Gov Lalong doesn’t speak for me and my people —Sen. Jang

The decision of Governor Simon Lalong to have cattle colonies, as recently proposed by the Federal Government established in Plateau State, has met with stiff opposition in section of the state.

Plateau North senatorial zone has vowed not to welcome anything of such in the area.

The feelings of the people over the system that will allot large space of land where herdsmen will be restricted to rear their cattle, was made known to newsmen by a former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang.

The senator, who represents Plateau North in the Senate, said in a statement released through his media consultant, Mr Clinton Garuba, that his “people are against cattle colonies; they have said that they would not relinquish their ancestral lands for the purpose of grazing reserves or colonies.”

According to Jang, Plateau North are “Not ready to accept the confiscation of their land by government” to be given to herdsmen, who supposedly, have over the years carried out series of attacks that led to the deaths of many of the people.

He added, “Cattle colonies are detrimental to the people and will not be accepted. The Plateau government is aware of this. As far as the people of my senatorial zone are concerned, Lalong spoke for himself and not for us.

“We have already suffered too much loss in the hands of attackers believed to be herdsmen; creating colonies for them will only worsen the situation. If the governor claims that people are already donating lands for the purpose of grazing reserves or cattle colonies, let him name the donors.

“The Plateau people are peaceful and have always rejected any policy that could undermine that peace. My constituents’ position is clear – Lalong is on his own and alone in this path that he has chosen.”

Jang further frowned at Lalong for allegedly saying that he warned Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom against anti-open grazing law in Benue, saying that Lalong should apologise to Ortom for making that comment.

READ ALSO: Northern govs supporting Buhari’s re-election owe no one apology, El-Rufai says

He said, “That statement was particularly unfair to the people of Benue, coming at a time they were mourning scores killed in the Jan. 1 attacks on villages in Guma and Logo governments. The statement suggests that the killings took place because of the law. This cannot be true because the killings have been on for years while the law only took effect on Nov. 1.”

Senator Jang then said that there was need for the federal and state governments to organise a meeting of stakeholders to fashion out a lasting solution to the incessant killing resulting from herdsmen/farmers clashes.

Recall that Governor Lalong had on Thursday in Abuja told State House correspondents how he warned Ortom against implementation of anti-open grazing in Benue and said that he would rather establish cattle colonies than enact a law to ban open cattle grazing in Plateau State.

 

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now