…Condoles Benue State, Christians over attacks
The Catholic Bishops of the Lagos Ecclesiastical Province has joined the league of other eminent Nigerians who have said no to the proposed cattle colony of the federal government as a lasting solution to the incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes.
A Communiqué issued at the end of the first plenary meeting of the Bishops for the year 2018 in Lagos, by His Lordships, Most Rev. Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo and Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, President and Secretary respectively observed that the move instead of bringing solution to the protracted clashes would heighten the already tensed situation.
The Bishops further said that the move by the federal government to set up cattle colonies in each of the 36 states of the federation left one with the impression that the much touted Islamization agenda of Nigeria was an ongoing project that may have secretly received that blessing of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to them,” We take serious exception to the provocative comments recently attributed to a University Don of Fulani extraction to the effect that the people of Benue are a conquered people who have no rights to the land which they presently occupy. In the same vein, we reject the proposed move by the federal government to establish cattle colonies across the various states of the federation as a way of finding a lasting solution to the herdsmen/farmers clashes. Such a move is not only capable of further exacerbating an already tensed atmosphere but also leave one with the impression that the much touted Islamization agenda of Nigeria is an ongoing project that may have tacitly received the approval of Mr. President”.
They however noted that all over the world, cattle grazing had become obsolete adding that ranching is the way to.
“One wonders why the rearing of cattle like all other forms of personal businesses should not be subjected to the same laws and regulations applicable to all corporate entities in the country. We call on the federal government to help bring about a permanent solution to the frequent herdsmen/farmers clashes by ensuring that the cattle owners establish ranches for their cattle without endangering the life and livelihood of others. Loan facilities as well as other relevant incentives should be extended to them in recognition of their contribution and relevance to the nation’s economy”, the Bishops said.
The Catholic prelates joined the catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria to commiserate with the families and relations of Nigerians who lost their lives recently in Benue, Adamawa, Taraba states and Southern Kaduna as a result of deadly attacks by Fulani herdsmen even as they sympathized with Christians in those states who over time had been subjected to series of unwarranted attacks, persecutions and provocations by herdsmen and other similar arms-wielding groups as a result of their faith.
They continued,” We condemn these senseless killings which in recent times leave one with impression that there is more to it than the acquisition of land for the purposes of cattle grazing”.
The Bishops believed that the incessant killings by the herdsmen across the country, if left unchecked was capable of subjecting the country to further major civil unrests with disastrous consequences on the nation’s unity.
They therefore demanded that those who had so far been implicated in the killings and their sponsors must be promptly arrested and made to face the law without fear or favor adding that those of them who were still on the run should be smoked out of their hidings for the law to take its course as nothing short of this would help to convince the Nigerian populace of the sincerity of President Muhammadu Buhari to bring an end to the menace.
Lagos Ecclesiastical Province of the Catholic Church is made up the Lagos Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Ijebu-Ode and Abeokuta.
Photo: The Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins.
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