- The Anambra state government has reacted to allegations that it is secretly allocating land for the establishment of cattle colonies
- The state’s commissioner for information and strategy, Ogbuefi Tony Nnachetta, stressed that the allegations were not true and that the government had no such plans
- Nnachetta also said efforts of the government in maintaining peace between herdsmen and host communities in the state were yielding results
The Anambra state commissioner for information and strategy, Ogbuefi Tony Nnachetta, has stated that the state government has no plans to establish cattle colonies.
According to Daily Trust, the commissioner made the comment in a chat with newsman in Awka, the state capital, on Friday. February 23.
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NAIJ.com gathers he denied allegations that the state government had secretly allocated land for the establishment of cattle colonies; describing the reports as mischievous.
Nnachetta recalled that the state’s council of elders, traditional rulers, community and opinion leaders including former Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife and a former Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, among others, had said there was no need for Anambra to donate land for cattle colonies.
The commissioner added that herdsmen had been living with indigenes of the state for the past 60 years, and stated that efforts of the government in maintaining peace between them and host communities in the state were yielding results.
He disclosed that there are 76 Fulani settlements across the state; and lauded the peaceful coexistence between the herdsmen and host communities, despite some clashes.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the proposal by the federal government to establish cattle colonies across the country as a means of ending the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen was rejected by the Anambra state House of Assembly.
According to Hon Timothy Ifediorama, representing Njikoka 1 constituency, the clashes between herdsmen and farmers could not be solved by establishing cattle colonies.
Ifediorama stated that if the proposal became reality, sovereignty of the allotted lands would now be in the exclusive control of the herdsmen as the policy would indicate a change of ownership.
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Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Saturday 24 February 2018