Igbo Women Beg Tinubu To Disarm Herders

Igbo women have called for the immediate disarming of violent herdsmen wreaking havoc in various agrarian communities in South East, lamenting that farmers are scared of going to farm due to attacks and criminal activities of the herders.
The visibly agitated women who spoke under the umbrella of Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) also demanded the dismantling of multiple military checkpoints across South East, claiming that they are stifling the economy of the zone and driving away the youths who allegedly suffer humiliation and molestation at some of the checkpoints.
Addressing a press conference in Umuahia, Abia State over the weekend, IWA National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to quickly come to the rescue of Igbo rural dwellers who are mostly farmers “as they no longer go to farm” as a result of incessant unprovoked attacks by criminal herders.
Lolo Nneka who was flanked by other women, regretted that no arrests had been made after the recent barbaric slaughter of farmers including two brothers in Enugu State by suspected herders.
The IWA President argued that since there is no case of cattle rustling in the South East, no herder in the zone should be allowed to bear weapons.
She said that “the excuse by the former President that he permitted herdsmen to bear arms because of cattle rustlers” is lame and should not apply in South East as there has not been any incident of cattle rustling in the zone.
The women lamented that despite killings and maiming of innocent citizens by murderous herders, security agencies are yet to frontally engage the perpetrators.
IWA decried the high cost of food items in the zone, blaming it on the activities of criminal herders which have taken a toll on farmers.
“We have land but we cannot go to farm again because of herdsmen. We now depend on the North to feed. We say no to this”, she said.
The women urged South East governors to enact and strictly enforce anti-grazing laws to help checkmate the activities of herdsmen in the zone.
“ Igbo people are all over the country doing their businesses. We buy our shops and build them. The same way, cattle rearing is a big business. Herdsmen should be made to buy lands for ranches and stop using their cows to inflict sorrows and economic pains on us.
“ You cannot use your cow to destroy my crops and later sell it to me. It doesn’t make sense”, Nneka said.
Decrying what they called “militarisation of South East”, the women appealed to President Tinubu to pull the military from South East roads back to their barracks from where they could be deployed in the event of any emergency.