Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex-Igbo socio-cultural group says the statement by Abubakar Malami, the minister of justice likening the ban on open grazing to spare parts business is thoughtless and prejudicial.
Malami had while reacting to the ban on open grazing by Southern governors, said it was illegal, adding that it was like Northern governors banning the sale of spare parts.
“Such a remark by a chief law officer of a federation is thoughtless, insidious and prejudicial,” President-General of Ohanaeze, Prof George Obiozor said in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Chiedozie Ogbonnia, in Enugu.
“Malami is a chief law officer that twists the law at will. He had in the past stated that ‘the rule of law is subservient to national security. Malami had also condemned the Amotekun security outfit by the Southwest and so on. In the words of Toyo Jimmy, Malami is a Chief Law Breaker.”
Ohanaeze said the people of Southern Nigeria had never had any problem with the conduct of the herdsmen until they started destroying farmlands and killing people.
“Malami knows that there has never been a report of a clash between the Southern motor spare parts sellers and the indigenous Northerners.
“The motor spare parts sellers render their services to the populace from a shop or a shade and are in no way comparable to the herders who invade farmlands, destroy crops, debauch women, maim, abduct and kill”.
Ohanaeze urged the Southern governors to put machinery in motion for the appropriate legal instruments to be put in place in their respective states so that the Open Grazing Law will become enforceable.
