By Ayodele Oni
Ondo State Government has again reminded members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders, (MACBAN) of the need to steer clear of the State forests if they are not ready to obey laid down rules.
Ondo State has joined the league of those that have signed into law, the anti grazing bill. MACBAN, specifically, threatened that the law would not work.
The State Government described a statement credited to the Secretary of the association, Alhaji Saleh Hassan as “uncouth, uncultured and, evidently, deracinated vagrant, left no one in doubt as regards the level of support certain criminal elements, like him, enjoy, deplorably.”
In a statement, Special Assistant to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Special Duties, Dr Doyin Odebowale stated that “This man admits, without qualms, that members of his association have been frustrated to the point of taking to banditry and other forms of criminality to “fight poverty”.
“He makes too much weather of a cultural practice associated with an ethnic group and expects all other ethnic groups to accept such backwardness and adjust, accordingly, or be ready to face the ceaseless onslaught of the denizens of the forests, even those from other countries, who must rape, rob, maim, kill and despoil in response to “climate change”.
“They claim to be above the law of any State in the Federation. They warn of the imminent breach of peace and promotion of pervasive anarchy, if they are not allowed to ravage the sweat and toil of the long-suffering farmers who, apparently, don’t count for much in the scheme of things in their estimation.
“They thank the Federal Government and ask its functionaries and the National Assembly to ensure that they continue to kill, maim, rape and dispossess the indigenous owners of their land.
“Any ethnic group, truly indigenous to the geo-political space known as Nigeria, should not be desperate to appropriate other people’s lands to assuage banditry, rape and robbery.
“It is indulgence taken too far for a group of private businessmen to seek to take over people’s lands because of the mistaken belief of support for banditry.
“There is no ethnic group which does not parade an array of professionals in all walks of life. There is no ethnic stock bereft of sound and principled agents of advancement in a transitional society.
“No cultural practice permits criminality. Banditry, rape and armed robbery should not be attributes of a people. Personal businesses must not become the prime occupation of a Government of a geo-political space with multi ethnic groups.
“Various communities live with painful memories and indelible scars. We refuse to become slaves in our land. We defeated treachery and unbridled arrogance.
“We are not prepared to cede any part of our ancestral heritage to enjoy “peace and progress” offered by associations of bandits, robbers, kidnappers and rapists.
“Saleh and his sponsors should be content with the resources within his local environment if he is indeed indigenous to Nigeria.
“No part of our land will be given to foreigners who cling to a dubious regional protocol as an instrument validating dispossession.
“Let him practice his cultural practices on his father’s land. His likes will not be permitted to operate with impunity in Ondo State. We will defend our land.
“Ondo State has a law which prohibits open grazing. The Government has a responsibility to implement the law for the benefit of the people of the State and those, who may share in their aspiration for development of their God-given space.
“The people of Ondo are hospitable. They will, however, be unable to tolerate and condone invasion of their lands. No bandit will operate in Ondo State under any dubious guise.”
 of the need to steer clear of the State forests if they are not ready to obey laid down rules.){kind=link}