Following incessant invasions of several human settlements, upscale central business district and city center of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja by hundreds of herdsmen and their cattle, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged the National Assembly to pass a legislation clearly outlawing open grazing of livestock within the metropolis.

Also, the Taraba State House of Assembly has been commended for successfully and transparently passing the state’s version of the anti-open grazing law, which the Rights group believes will fundamentally redefine the symbiotic relationship amongst farmers and private owners of cattle ranches and will increase the tourism potentials of Taraba State just like what obtains in most other civilised climes.

HURIWA urged other states across the country to borrow a leaf from Taraba, Benue and Ekiti states which now operate anti-open grazing state laws to check frequent violent attacks of farmers by armed Fulani herdsmen.

The group also accused the FCT Minister, Alh. Mohammed Bello, of probably allowing his private relationship with his fellow Fulani kinsmen to interfere with his official obligations to clean up the FCT and stop the herdsmen from defacing the environmental beauty of the FCT and constituting grave security threats in the nation’s capital.

HURIWA affirmed that the dereliction of duty in this instance by the Minister, constitutes a willful breach of his constitutional oath of office, which obliges him not to allow his personal interests to interfere with his official functions and services he must render to residents of the nation’s capital.

The group warned that the persistent presence of unrestrained movement of cattle in and around government business center of the Federal Capital “where foreign dignitaries frequently move around constitutes global opprobrium for our nation’s international image as a nation that lacks implementable civilised clean environmental laws.”

Besides, the rights group carpeted the Federal Capital Territory administration for failing to take prompt and decisive steps to stop the continuous occupation by cows and herdsmen of the premises of the University of Abuja since the last one monthly thereby obstructing the smooth implementation of academic and non-academic activities by the students and staff.

The rights group said the reason for the bad and abysmally poor state of environmental sanitation and frequent roaming of cattle and herdsmen within the city and the occupation of the University of Abuja by herdsmen and their cattle has been made possible also by the systemic failure of the relevant committees of the National Assembly to compel the political administration of Abuja to clean up the city and stop the invasion of the City Centre and its environ by large herds of cattle and herdsmen.

Apart from constituting security threats to the lives and property of the citizens including the students and staff of the University of Abuja, the rights group said the unrestrained roaming of cattle could pose health hazards should the livestock develop mad cow disease or any such emerging health risks which could inflict a massive epidemic to the population of Abuja.

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