Kelvin Obambon|8 November 2017
The move by Cross River State Government in deploying security personnel to the northern part of the state to check activities of Fulani Herdsmen is commendable. This came shortly after confrontation between Herdsmen and farmers was reported in Ugaga community, Yala Local Government Area, which left one dead and others injured.
While it is reasonable to add that this move is only a parliative measure, a more concrete approach should be urgently devised to permanently address the issue.
Recall that neighbouring Benue State recently passed Anti Open Grazing Law. This development eventually opened the floodgate for these harbingers of dead to migrate en mass to adjoining states, Cross River included.
The presence of these demons from the pit of hell in any locality at any given space in time constitute existential threat to security of the locals. The havoc reportedly wreaked by this group on communities in the Middle Belt, and recently, Enugu, in the Southeast, makes their arrival a potential distortion to peace and tranquility in the state. This should not be allow to happen.
Every necessary machinery must be put in motion to forestall further lost of lives and properties. The life of every Cross Riverian and others living within its jurisdiction must be jealously protected at all cost. It therefore behoves on the state government and its institutions to provide adequate security for everyone in the state.
Should this latest development is allowed to escalate, Cross River shall definitely be counting its losses in no too distant time. The attendant effects will be too telling on the state's semi-agrarian economy, as the northern part of the state is noted for its enormous agricultural potentials, which undoubtedly constitute essential indices in Cross River State economic outlook.
Frequent clashes between Herdsmen and farmers will surely translate to food scarcity, as displaced farmers
Will lost their primary factor of production (land). Gradually, the chaos may likely envelop other parts of the state, leading to a serious crisis that will require extreme measures to quell.
As it stands now, the position of open grazing in the state is largely and legally undefined, as there is no extant law to that effect. It might constitute an illegality for anyone, under this legal dilemma, to obstruct Fulani Herdsmen who open graze their cattles.
The bulk is now shift to the Cross River State House of Assembly to do the needful, and do it urgently too to avert imminent onslaught on the peace loving people of Cross River State.
GIVE US ANTI OPEN GRAZING LAW TO PROTECT US AND OUR UNBORN GENERATION!
Kelvin Obambon
Is a Social Commentator
