Migrating herders cause scare in Niger town
Some nomadic herders who crossed the AbujaKaduna highway near Sabon-Wuse town in Niger State on Wednesday, caused a stir as residents panicked thinking it was an attack.
Our reporter who visited the area gathered that the Fulani herders comprising men, women and children, got to the area around 8am moving with large herds of cattle, sheep, donkeys and camels.
A vigilante leader, Hussaini Abubakar, told Daily Trust that on arriving at the highway from Gurara area council, the herders stopped for a while due to the vehicular traffic at a military checkpoint between Dikkojunction and the town.
“They were able to cross the road after a while and we met them somewhere in Tafa LGA where we operate.
“We questioned some of them in order on their mission and from what we gathered, some of them were from Niger Republic and they were heading to Bauchi State,” the vigilante leader said.
He added that the herders’ efforts to cross the highway with their large herd which caused a gridlock, and also the fact that some of them were on motorcycles, made many residents and passersby to panic.
It was further learnt that many parents rushed to schools to withdraw their children following rumour that Fulani herders have invaded the area for an attack, with others claiming it as a Boko Haram invasion.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in the area, Malam Haruna Idris, said for over a month now, nomadic herders have been migrating through the area with about 500 to 1,000 animals.
“And every time we asked them about their mission, their answers were that they were migrating from either Niger, Kebbi or Zamfara states, and heading to Bauchi. And in most cases they used to pass their night around some nearby ruga (herders settlements), before proceeding with their journey,” Idris added.
Daily Trust gathered that, the herders have since continued with their journey toward IjahGwari near Bwari, FCT.
Effort to speak to the Suleja police area commander, ACP Sani Badarawa, was not successful, as he did not answer calls to his phone by our reporter, ahead of filing this report.
An environment consulting firm, Plymouth Consult Limited, has trained women in Zamani village, Airport Road, Abuja on the dangers of environmental degradation and how they can help sustain the environment.
The training centred around the environmental impacts of open defecation, indiscriminate bush burning, felling of tress, and dumping of refuse.
The firm also took the women through the benefits of child spacing and family planning and offered to pay for the family planning of 20 families at the Naval Hospital in Abuja.
The Principal Consultant, Plymouth Consult Limited, Temi George explained that the initiative is meant to educate the women to be aware of the consequences of their actions.