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Tambuwal: What Should Be Done To Check Herdsmen Influx Into Nigeria
As part of the efforts to address the lingering security challenges in the country, Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto State, has advised that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocol on free movement be reviewed.
Tambuwal said the revision is needed to check the influx of foreign herders into Nigeria.
The governor said some of the herdsmen who come from neighbouring countries contribute to the perennial pastoral crisis in Nigeria.
ECOWAS adopted the protocol in 1979 to aid free movement between West African countries in order to foster regional integration and development.
But concerns have been raised about how foreign herders contribute significantly to the farmers/herders conflict that has now morphed into banditry in parts of Nigeria.
Speaking during a Television Continental (TVC) programme on Saturday, Tambuwal said West African leaders need to tinker with the ECOWAS protocol because Nigeria is not getting a great deal out of it as it’s undermining the security and peace of the country.
“We need to go back to the protocol of ECOWAS because it is established that a number of these herders are coming from across other West African countries,” the governor said.
“So, we need to go back and recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari… we need to go back to the ECOWAS protocol, to convene a meeting of ECOWAS and review it.
“We, as a country, have a problem with the protocol, so review it. We must find a way of stopping this movement.”
The governor added that the protocol has made it possible for herdsmen to come into Nigeria from as far as Central Africa — and “it is affecting everybody.”
“We need to rejig it and see where there are issues and address them,” Tambuwal said.
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal
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