We’re ready for killer herdsmen in Ebonyi – Police

 

The Ebonyi State Police Command has said it is up to the task in protecting lives and property in the state.

The spokesman of the command, ASP George Okafor, stated this in Abakaliki, the state capital, yesterday.

He spoke against the background of recent attacks by Fulani herdsmen in neighboring Enugu State.

On the measures taken by the command to ensure that the massacre in Enugu State does not occur in Ebonyi, Okafor said: ‘’In this command, I want to tell you that we have been very outstanding in dealing with matters involving cattle rearers, because we believe in alternative dispute resolution strategy.

“In Ishielu, Ohaukwu Ezza North, Ebonyi LGA and other areas, Fulani herdsmen have entered the areas and caused some damages which would have caused serious clashes between members of the communities and the herdsmen, but we did not allow that to happen.

“We called leaders of the herdsmen and the communities and made sure there were no clashes. We dialogued with them.

‘’Several matters between herdsmen and villagers which would have resulted in more bloody clashes than that of Enugu have been resolved in the state by the police command.

 “We have an agreement with the herdsmen that if farmers’ crops are destroyed or eaten up by their cows, the herdsmen will pay for it. We also told villagers or the farmers that they will pay for any cow they kill without any reason and the two parties have agreed on this.

“Herdsmen have on many occasions paid farmers for the crops their cows destroyed and the natives have also paid for cows they unduly attacked.

“So, we have taken so many measures to ensure that the incident in Enugu does not occur in Ebonyi, and God has been on our side because we have not had any clash and our dialogue strategy has been yielding fruitful results.”

Investigation shows that the Fulani herdsmen in the state are moving freely with their cattle in different communities around the state.

In Ozibo community, Ebonyi Local Government Area, herdsmen were seen grazing their cows and returning to a piece of land given to them by a member of the community, Chief Ngaji Nwaodoh, where they have been living for years.

Efforts to get the Special Adviser on Internal Security, Mr. Ali Odefa, were abortive as he was said to be in a security meeting with some stakeholders in the state ahead of today’s PDP ward Congress.