Plateau state Governor Simon Lalong has Tuesday, said not only herders but farmers also bears AK-47 riffles in Nigeria.
According to a statement by the governor’s director of press, Dr. Makut Macham, Lalong made the statement while featuring on Channels TV’s, Sunrise Daily programme.
“Today, we are now seeing the hazard of allowing people do open grazing here and there. But they (herders) also want solution; by the time you explain to them, they also want to stay in one place, they would also want to keep away from carrying AK-47.
“I’m not justifying anybody to carry AK-47 but don’t forget that in the course of our deliberations and investigations, it was not only Fulani herdsmen that were carrying AK-47, even farmers were carrying AK-47,” Lalong said.
He condemned the violence perpetrated by herdsmen who bear arms, and called for strong measures to end the ugly trend.
Mr. Lalong lamented that there are many non-state actors who are in possession of arms, a situation that must be addressed.
He said in order to address the situation, deliberate efforts must be put in place to curtail the influx of light arms.
“While other ways such as the National Livestock Transformation Programme, NLTP, must be embraced to take these people away from the old type of farming and then introduce them to the modern system.” He said.
