Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana
A senior advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has threatened to drag
President Muhammadu Buhari to court over the deaths caused by the
movement of cattle in the country, Vanguard reports.
Falana called on the president to look into deaths caused by the
movement of thousands of heads of cattle in the country, stressing that
the government must act swiftly to salvage the situation which is
taking the lives of innocent farmers, destroying farmlands and many
other tragedies.
He said: “Through the negligence of the State the country has
continued to witness the reckless killing of innocent farmers and the
destruction of farmlands. Farmers, like other citizens, are entitled to
the protection of the right to life and property. The primitive movement
of thousands of heads of cattle from the north to the south should be
stopped without any further delay.
“In the interim, States which have large livestock populations
should take advantage of the Land Use Act to acquire land for the
establishment of grazing reserves. In view of the increasing incident of
cattle rustling, security measure should be put in place to police the
grazing reserves. The said grazing reserves will be phased out gradually
and replaced with ranches and abattoirs.
“However, since the federal government is obligated to protect
the life and property of every citizen urgent steps should have taken to
avert further killings and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen. If the
Buhari Administration does not discharge its constitutional duty by
stopping the unwarranted civil disturbances we shall not hesitate to
pray the federal high court to compel it to act responsibly in the
circumstance by ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights of
every farmer to life and property.
“At the same time, we shall equally ask the Court to compel the
federal government and state government with large livestock
populations to establish grazing reserves and ranches.”
In a recent report, senator-elect from Bayelsa state, Ben
Murray-Bruce, likened the deaths caused by Fulani herdsmen to that of
Boko Haram. He said that Fulani clashes kill more than Boko Haram,
hence, drastic measures should be taken.