The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu says herdsmen roaming around and destroying crops was the cause of farmer/herdsmen clashes in the country.
He said that the herdsmen must be stopped to end the frequent clashes with the farmers.
The presidential spokesman spoke during an appearance on Channels Television on Tuesday, The Punch reported.
His comment came as the Buhari presidency has been accused of covertly supporting herdsmen that have been wreaking havoc across many parts of the country.
“We have to stop these herders from roaming and eating up crops all over the country. They drive their cattle into farmlands and they eat up crops and the farmers fight back and the killings follow. This country cannot continue in this way,” Garba Shehu said.
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However, he blamed the herdsmen’s frequent movements on the global climate change situation, noting that it was not limited to Nigeria.
He noted that this has caused grazing lands in the north to dry up, pushing the pastoralists Southward.
“The encroachment by desert leading to the drying up of a lot of grazing lands in the northern-most parts of the country have put pressure on the herders who are looking southwards for green grass so that their cattle will eat and also have water to drink.
“It’s a global climate change situation which is unfortunate, considering what has happened around Lake Chad basin itself drying to up about only ten per cent of its original size,” Garba Shehu.