Insecurity: South-West govs, traditional rulers, security chiefs back end to open grazing

The South-West Region on Saturday agreed that open grazing must be checked and looked at to curb the incessant security threats in the zone, especially the farmer- herder clashes which has continued to remain topical issue.

The decision was reached by the governors, traditional rulers who gathered in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, to review the security situation of the zone.

The meeting, which was held inside the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s office, Agodi, Ibadan, had in attendance five governors including the host, Governor Makinde; Governors Akeredolu of Ondo, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

The meeting equally had in attendance the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of South-West, David Folawiyo, and security chiefs serving in Oyo State.

Others included the chairmen of Council of Traditional Rulers in each of the South-West states and some first class monarchs.

Some of the traditional rulers who took part in the meeting include the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinrutan; Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, Aje Ogungunnjso 1; and Olugbon of Orilegbon, Oba Francis Olusola Alao.

Also in attendance was the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko, and other heads of security agencies in Oyo State.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, who spoke at the end of the meeting hinted that though the meeting was at the instance of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the trio could not fly out of Abuja due to bad weather.

He said that the governors and the traditional rulers thereafter decided to meet to appraise the security situation in the zone.

Akeredolu, who briefed newsmen about the resolutions of the meeting said, “The discussion we had with our Obas and security chiefs have been most productive. Many things we never thought of came up and we heard from our Kabiyesis more mature approach to challenges we are facing in the South West and the country at large.

“And from our discussion, we all agreed that the time is now that we support the decision of National Economic Council (NEC) about forests management. They believe that all the states should be in the position to manage their forests, which will give enough room to determine who is there, what purpose they are serving, and where you have people illegally. The states should be able to take steps to enable us preserve our forests.

“We all agreed that our borders have become too porous, and that we need to do something urgently to prevent foreign herdsmen from coming into this country without any form of caution, because a number of them have come in with their herds and what they do is of concern to us. We all believe that our borders need to be checked and tightened, so that all those foreigners from Niger Republic and those beyond bordering states don’t come in with their herds and destroy our farms.

“We also discussed that, as we are supporting other areas of farming, like rice farmers and others, there is need for government to support cattle breeding.

“One of the ways we can support cattle breeding is to change the ways cattle breeders are adopting now. So, there will be designated grazing areas, as well as feed mills. With these, there is no need to trek with herds from far. But, things that will lead to open grazing in these modern times must be looked at and the state and federal government, in particular, should give as much support as possible to cattle breeders”, he concluded