Ex-Naval chief to sue herdsmen’s sponsors in Zamfara, Niger, others


A former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan (retd.), says he has contacted a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to take legal action against owners of the cows which destroyed vast acres of crops in the ex-naval chief’s farms in Kwara State last week.

He explained that this was to ensure that the law took its course against the owners of the cows, who he believed should rather be held more responsible for the atrocities of the herdsmen.

Afolayan lamented that the herdsmen burnt about 20 hectares of his orange farm, 20 hectares of his cassava farm and five hectares of his palm tree farm.

He noted that he had incurred huge losses in the past 10 years to the criminal activities of the herdsmen but had decided to keep quiet.

The retired naval boss lamented that despite his outcry over the recent destruction, the herdsmen still invaded his farms with their cows on Thursday last week.

He berated the federal and Kwara State governments for abandoning him to his fate.

According to him, there has been no response from the Federal Government and the Kwara State Government since he made public the destruction of about 45 hectares out of his 500 hectares of farms at Obbo-Ile in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Afolayan told SUNDAY PUNCH in Ilorin on Friday that he briefed the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, on the burning and destruction of his farm last Tuesday.

He added that since he addressed journalists about the development on Wednesday, the ministries of agriculture at the federal and state levels had yet to respond to his ordeal.

Afolayan stated, “Nobody has contacted me. I have briefed the governor; I briefed him (the governor) even before I granted the interview but nobody has contacted me.

“My line of action is that I will then give a thorough briefing on the series of things they have been destroying. I have the pictures.

“Yesterday (Thursday) they still invaded my farms with their cows which ate up my cassava.”

The former naval chief added, “I have already contacted a SAN. He visited the farm yesterday (Thursday). So, I asked him to take legal action. One of the perpetrators has been arrested and he is in detention at the moment.

“The owner of the cattle is in Zamfara. The action is against the herdsmen and their sponsors.

“I have made only one arrest (for the last destruction). The people being arrested are of no consequence. For anybody who has emotions, those are not the people that I can be fighting because I know they are not the owners of the cows.

“The people that led the cows to destroy farms are of no consequence. The owners of the cows are the ones that I asked the police to arrest. One of them is in Zamfara State; his name and village are known.

“The owner of the cows, which destroyed my farms not quite long ago, is in Minna. So, the people who are moving about with the cows are just errand boys.

“If you take them to court, they cannot appreciate the value of what they had destroyed. I know that they are deliberately doing all these things.”

The spokesperson for the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, however, said the governor was concerned about the ordeal and loss of the ex-naval boss.

He stated that the governor had directed appropriate authorities, including the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Lawal Ado, to investigate the destruction and report back to him.

Akorede said, “Actually, he (Afolayan) briefed the governor and the governor had directed the appropriate agencies, including the Commissioner for Police, to visit the farm, investigate what happened and give him a feedback.

“Maybe things are not moving at the speed he wants, but the governor is looking into it. The issue came up for discussion at the last security council meeting and the governor, who chaired the session, received a briefing on the matter.

“The governor deeply sympathises with him. It is unfortunate and tragic. This loss could have been avoided if the dialogue and compensation mechanism that the state government has put in place was fully imbibed by all parties involved.

“However, I can assure him that he will not be left alone and that he will get every possible support from the government of Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed.”



http://punchng.com/ex-naval-chief-to-sue-herdsmens-sponsors-in-zamfara-niger-others/

they only give verdict. they don't take actions mumu people mumu govt

I am highly interested in this case. I want them to unmask the owner of the cattle in Minna and the one in Zamfara. If anything happens to the retired naval chief, those 2 people should be arrested and brought to book.

There is something I believe, though. There are 3 groups of Fulani herdsmen.

There is one group of simple Fulani herdsmen who take care of the cattle. They move around peacefully with their cattle seeking grass for them to eat. Some are rather selfish, and allow their cattle to graze on farmlands to the detriment of the farmers and their crops.

And there is another group of militant Fulani herdsmen or renegades, who are the cattle rustlers that steal the cattle and kill people. They are armed with sophisticated weapons, vehicles and machinery. It is this second group, that needs to be disbanded and tracked down by the security agencies, to face the music. Someone who is not an experienced Fulani herdsman would not have the courage or skill, to rustle several numbers of cattle at a go. They are being backed by some influential Nigerians, or else where would they get such sophisticated weapons and trained killers, from??

Then the 3rd group are savage, intolerant Fulani herdsmen, employed by the cattle owners to take revenge on the communities, where their cattle were stolen, because they erroneously believe that the indigenes of those communities are responsible for stealing their cows.

The 2nd and 3rd groups are the most deadly of the Fulani herdsmen. The govt authorities and security agencies need to fish them out, and eradicate them!

Revealing the owners of the cattle would help un ravel the sponsors of these terror acts