One of the umbrella bodies of herdsmen in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has said herders are facing so many challenges ranging from unfriendly host committees, vigilante groups and criminal elements who rustle cows in the country.
The group added that some displaced herders in the country, dispossessed of their cows, end up becoming bandits carrying out several attacks including kidnapping Nigerians.
A spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, who stated this on Wednesday, argued it was unfair to label every herder a criminal, adding that it was sad that herders have been singled out for victimization.
He said herders turned bandits, were fighting an economic fight and not an ideological fight.
The spokesman said states banning open grazing and chasing out herders from their domains are creating a crisis unknown to them.
Details later…
