“Farmers should be armed with AK-47 rifles for self defense against herdsmen”- Gov Ortom
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom says asking farmers to defend themselves with cutlass against criminal herdsmen is not fair.
The governor said this while answering his questions from newsmen at the Makurdi airport in Benue on Friday, September 10, 2021.
Ortom said a situation whereby herdsmen carried sophisticated weapons like AK-47 rifles and farmers are asked to defend themselves with cutlass and Dane guns is unfair.
He said, “Farmers should be allowed to carry weapons consummate to the weapons herdsmen are carrying about, killing people.”
He said he was happy that the House Representative is working towards a legislation whereby every Nigerian will have weapons to defend themselves.
“Let every one have weapons, so that we can face each other; not when you have cutlass and Dane guns to face someone with AK-47.”
However, in a bid to address lingering farmers-herders crisis in the southern part of the country, governors of the region are making moves to ban open grazing in the region.
In July, the governors agreed that all southern states should have anti-open grazing laws in place by September.
Meanwhile, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Fulani Socio-Cultural Association had called on the National Assembly to intervene and stop attempt by the governors to enact anyi-open grazing laws targeted at Fulani pastoralists.
The association argued that the law would undermine the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the local communities, threaten social order and exacerbated cattle rustling.