SENATE JOINS HOUSE, SUMMONS BUHARI OVER KILLINGS

states of the federation. NEC sometimes this year came up with a committee, being disturbed by the constant conflicts between herdsmen and farmers. The council came up with the committee of nine governors with the vice-president as the chairman, and the committee went into deliberations.

"After a couple of meetings, they decided that most five affected states should be visited. So, they came up with a sub-technical committee of three governors with myself, the governor of Ebonyi State as chairman and governors of Plateau and Adamawa as members.

"We were constituted to visit the five core states. Later, other states like Plateau and Kaduna states were also added. But we were able to visit only five states: Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Jigawa and Zamfara States.

"The core causes of the conflicts that we were made to understand were perception and of course, our media friends, competition for scarces resources and banditry or what you can call pure criminal activities through cattle rustling, kidnapping etc.

"Today, we look at three categories of herdsmen in Nigeria. We look at the foreign herdsmen that come in due to the treaty and we continue to say that the treaty is not being properly implemented. For any herdsman to come into Nigeria from outside, there should be a kind of certification.

"There must be a letter, even though you are not coming in with a visa. You have to travel with ECOWAS documentation. Animals that are coming into the country are required to be quarantined, but this is not being done. So, this is one category of them.

"Secondly, we have the nomadic herdsmen, who during the dry season, travel from up North to the Middle Belt down to the South. These cause conflicts. Also, foreign herdsmen coming all the way from neighbouring countries and travelling through farmlands also cause conflicts. "Then, of course, we have the migrant herdsmen who migrate for a very long time and settle with villagers and even inter-marry with them. These are the three categories we have in Nigeria.

"In all, we agree that movement is not profitable to the herdsmen because they value the milk from the cow even more than the cow itself. So, the movement is not healthy for the cows as it dries up the meat and gives less than two litres of milk per cow per day. So, we condemn the issues of foreign invasion by foreign herdsmen and l am happy that the federal government is doing something about it.

"Today, there was a meeting of ECOWAS countries on the subject and we also agreed that these movements have to stop and occasionally, by those who have settled and integrated from other parts of the country like the Middle Belt. They sometimes go into conflicts with farmers.

"So, in all, we agreed that there is a more profitable and modern way of raising these cows which is by ranching. So, we have agreed that the states involved are going to give lands. Niger and Kaduna have given lands and Plateau is also giving land. Ranching is being practised in Mambila in Taraba states and they have success stories with regards to that.

"We also agreed that through the Agriculture Ministry, we have the need to introduce new species of cows. The minister told us that there are new species that produce as much as 60 litres of milk per day per cow and that the cows weigh as much as 900 kilogramme but our own weigh less than 200 kilogrammes. So, we have agreed that we are going to work on these new species, while also working with our ranching. We also agreed that livestock production in Nigeria has not been taken care of.

"As we are taking care of the farmers by way of the Anchor borrowers scheme, of course, the farmers cry of the high-interest rate on the Anchor borrowers scheme. The rate of interests should be between 2 to 5 per cent. So, we should extend those gestures to the herdsmen. And it was discovered that most of these cows are not being herded by their owners. Big men buy these cattle and give them out to the herders. So, the children of the herders have nothing to inherit. They, therefore, go into cattle rustling and other forms of criminalities.

"Through this policy and intervention in the livestock production, it will be possible for the herdsmen to own their own livestock and have something for the future. We also agreed that there is a need for good lives for the herdsmen. Through these policies, their children will be able to go to schools. There will be nomadic education and medical facilities through these ranches for the herdsmen and their animals. Grasses will be planted, irrigation and dams will be created for a source of water. Lastly, we ask the public to begin to see livestock as another means of investment," Umahi submitted.