Tina Amanda
A security expert in Rivers state has condemned the move by the federal government to establish RUGA settlements for Fulani herdsmen in all the states of the federation, saying it is a threat to the security of lives and property of the people.
Retired Colonel Chinedu Owhonda, who stated this to our reporter Tina Amanda, said that by virtue of land use act in the Nigerian constitution, the state owns the land, adding that federal government has no right for the forceful acquisition of land from states.
According to him, Nigerians are being killed, maimed on a daily basis in their communities and villages by same herdsmen that the federal government is trying to give RUGA settlement to.
“If you know the body language of these herdsmen they are fully armed, they have been declared by the United Nations as the fourth terrorist group in the world, anywhere they go, they forcefully dominate and kill, but the federal government has never made comments concerning their acts or declared a state of emergency on them.
“A group like IPOB that has never killed anyone was postscribed immediately and banned. Fulani herdsmen have been killing and statistics figure of the killings shows over 20,500 people have been killed across Nigeria and nobody has made a rudimentary statement against them”
Colonel Owhonda stressed that RUGA settlement for herdsmen is not in conformity with the Nigerian constitution.
He said: “The States and the people should stop the federal government from further land colonization, it is the state that owns land and states have the right to say no or yes to acquisition of land, the federal government don’t have the sole power to gazette any land, the people own the land and have the authority to give out or not.
“The people should go to court and stop it. If not, this country will face anarchy and chaos. These herdsmen are insensitive, they keep causing more havoc and pain to the host communities, Nigerians should stand up and resist it because you don’t force people into another community, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo raised an alarm of this issue some months ago and people took it as a mere talk”
