Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigerian (MACBAN) on Saturday said its attention has been drawn to the “unscrupulous action of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State against our members who are bona fide citizens of the country.”
A statement by its spokesman, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, recalled that Fayose on Thursdayinaugurated a vigilante group, Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshals (EGEM), popularly called ‘Anti-malu’ “in furtherance of his threat to banish our members from Ekiti State”.
He said Fayose unleashed the marshals “against our members whose herds of cattle had gone to a stream at Agon Bridge on Federal Polytechnic road between the time of 2:00 – 2:30 PM to quench their thirst on Friday 21st October 2016”.
Continuing, the statement sent to DAILY POST reads: “We have been reliably alerted an impeccable source in Ado- Ekiti that the Anti-maul vigilante group shot five cows and carted away with the meat but the herdsman was able to flee with the rest of his cattle.
“We are hereby constrained to implore the federal government through its security agencies to wade into this unprovoked and primitive aggression against our members, before this macabre incident develops into unquenchable inferno involving our members and Ekiti State government.
“No Cattle strayed into anybody’s farmland around that area in question. As such, the actions of the Anti-malu vigilante are not ant only provoking, but capable of creating uncontrollable scenarios whose ramification may go well beyond Ekiti State.?
“As far as we know, Ekiti State is not an island of its own, but a state within the Federal Republic of Nigeria and while the governor is permitted to carry out actions geared towards protecting the interest of Ekiti State, such actions should follow the rule of law.
“We deplore this act of brigandage and call on Governor Ayodele Fayose to offer an unreserved apology to MACBAN, and equally set machinery in motion with a view to compensate our members who lost five cows in this primitive adventure.
“That the brutality of the Ekiti Grazing enforcement marshals (popularly known as Anti- malu) on herdsmen is even outside the time stipulated by that law (if the law exists at all).
“The federal government should therefore look into the actions and activities of this committee because we cannot fold our hands while the only means of survival of our members is taken away and destroyed.
“MACBAN has instructed victims of this aggression and its members nationwide to exercise maximum restrain while we work towards resolving this unfortunate incident through mature and civilized manners.
MACBAN further sympathized with the government of Kaduna State, Sokapu and entire Kaduna South inhabitants over the recent incident that had claimed so many lives as a result of a discord between our members and communities surrounding Godogodo environ.
“We see this act as an up solute brutality exhibited by the perpetrators and condemnable in all its ramifications. We call on the security to do all it could to fish out and bring these criminals to book.”
Meanwhile, The Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Sokoto State Chapter, Alhaji Muhammadu Magaji, has warned its members not to graze their livestock on farm lands.
