Opposition Fuelling Tension Over Grazing Land In Edo, Says Obaseki

EDO State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has accused his political opponents in the last gubernatorial election of fuelling the current tension over grazing land in the state.

Obaseki was reported to have promised to allocate grazing lands for herders. This came as protesting residents of Ovia Northeast local council of the state, last Thursday evening, stormed Government House, Benin, with the body of one of the seven persons allegedly killed in their area by criminal herdsmen.

Speaking with newsmen after a meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, Obaseki said his government was only favourably disposed to encourage private individuals to do business with herders for profit, accusing his political opponents of mischievously misrepresenting the position of government for selfish reasons.

“If you will just go through some blogs and some of the narratives and messages sent around online and on social media, you can see a correlation. For instance, the people who are pushing the message that I have given grazing land in Edo; if you see them, they are the same blogs, the same people who were sponsoring opposition messages throughout the election. So, clearly, if you were in my position, what will be your conclusion? “Apart from that, the people who have been pushing the narrative are just trying to create a scare, trying to create trouble. These are people who we defeated during the last election.