Ohaneze Youth Council, OYC, has called on the International Communities, over the provocative remarks uttered by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on resolutions by Southern Governors to ban open grazing. The group encouraged the Southern Governors to go ahead, and implement the decision reached.
Recall that last week the Southern Governors, during their meeting in Asaba, had agreed to ban open grazing of cattles. The decision was in reaction to various criminal activities reportedly committed by herdsmen.
In reaction to this development, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the “governors had no such powers”.
He further noted that the ban was similar to @& Northern governors waking up to ban sale of motor spare parts in some parts of the country.
Reacting, Ohaneze Youth Council on Thursday condemned the statement, saying it was obvious the rampaging killers herdsmen had all along been drawing their strength from President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government administration.
The President General of OYC, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, said it was “a show of shame that a senior lawyer could wake up and draw such weird comparisons.
He said that the AGF left no one in doubt that the killer herdsmen were being propelled by the federal government.
“We are in deep shock over the statement made by the Attorney General of the Federation on open TV. It is so sad that such a posturing could come from the chief law officer of the land.
“To say the least, we are more disappointed because this came from a senior lawyer, a supposed senior lawyer, and SAN, who should know better. How on earth can Malami compare herdsmen killing, raping women, and forcefully taking over people’s ancestral land to spare parts dealers.
“His ethnic ‘obsession’ shows that the federal government has all along been the one giving impetus to killer herdsmen. May we ask him, “the spare parts dealers in the North are they paying for their shops? Are they not contributing to the revenue of their host states? Do they enter into Northern states and occupy territories, including their residential apartments by force? Do they go along raping and killing their hosts? Does freedom of movement entail movement of cattle to destroy people’s farms and through the societies into acute hunger?
“His childish and ethnic induced comparison clearly exposed his hatred for the Igbos, who are known to be the major spare parts dealers in the North. This should not be taken for granted. We have lost total confidence in him as AGF. We now know who to hold responsible for all the atrocities of herdsmen in our land.
“Indeed Nigerians and the International community now know those who have been supporting the activities of killer herdsmen and we are alerting the International community, to mount close surveillance on him. He should be put on the watchlist; this should not be taken for granted.”
Meanwhile, the OYC advised the Southern governors not to relent in their resolve to implementing the ban on open grazing.
Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News | May 20, 2021
