The Oyo State House of Assembly has called on Gov. Abiola Ajimobi to as a matter of urgency find lasting solution to herdsmen/farmers clashes in the state.

The lawmakers made the call, following a report of the Committee on Public Petitions, Human Rights, Ethics and Privileges submitted to the plenary of the House on Tuesday.

The Committee, headed by Mr Muideen Olagunju (Accord-Oyo West/Oyo East), was mandated to investigate a petition brought before the House against herdsmen operating in Adafila Village of Orire Local Government Area of the state.

clash

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Messrs Akinleye Akinwunmi and Babatunde Alonge had petitioned the House to investigate the destruction of their farmlands by a suspected herdsman.

Olagunju said:”Consequent upon the meeting held with stakeholders, the committee found out that cows owned by a herdsman, Alhaji Tafa, grazed and destroyed 22 acres of 250 acres cassava farmland belonging to the petitioners

“While the case was reported to the police, no arrest has been made.

”This is because the herdsman was reported to have spoken a kind of language to the cows after which they became ferocious and charged at the Adafila Police station.

‘’The petitioner, therefore fled for their lives.

“Efforts by the petitioners and Tafa to reach an amicable settlement were futile as Tafa was not ready to compensate the petitioners to the tune of N2.5 million.

“He was said to have claimed that highest amount he ever paid to farmers whose farmlands were destroyed by his cows was N100, 000.”

The committee urged the Assembly to consider holding a public hearing on the anti-grazing bill for efficient policy formulation.

It also recommended that peace committee be directed to hold its meetings twice a month.

The House, presided over by the Deputy Speaker; Mr Musa Abdulwasi (APC-Saki-West), urged the executive arm to address the perennial problem of destruction of lives and properties by herdsmen.

This it said could be done through the Committee on inter-community and inter-ethnicity relations.

The house also called on the state government to direct the security trust fund to provide logistics to beef up security in the area.

The lawmakers also appealed to the local chiefs of the affected areas to cooperate fully with government to ensure harmonious and peaceful co-existence of diverse ethnic groups in the state. (