Reconciliation key to peace in Benue – Nigerians in Europe tell FG

Mr Dozie Ugochukwu , President African Diaspora Council of Switzerland told Newsmen that there was an urgent need for government to institute a sincere peace building process among stakeholders.

“Clashes between herdsmen and farmers have been lingering on for long. Government needs to come up with implementable solutions that would be passed as laws”

“The world has moved on, Nigeria should also move on from the old order, rather than have herdsmen encroach on farmlands, the use of ranches and grazing fields should be enforced as obtainable in other countries.

“It is particularly worrisome as these herdsmen now use firearms like AK47, this is a war machine,  and individuals should not be allowed to carry such arms”.

While condemning the killings, he tasked government on the need to further strengthen its borders “ saying that when the borders are porous, there will continue to be proliferation of weapons across the borders, therefore the sources of arms coming into the country to be stopped.

Ugochukwu further urged government to apply the same force it used in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in dealing with foreigners who masquerade themselves as herdsmen.

Similarly, Ms Jenny Okafor Founder of the Nigerian Women in Diaspora Leadership Forum in a telephone interview told Newsmen that government should engage independent minded people in its efforts to build peace and reconciliation in Benue State.

“People must be engaged irrespective of their religion and ethnicity in a unity, tolerant and peace building process”

“The Benue people and victims of attacks should be listened to in order to understand their grievances and have a sense of belonging “ Okafor stressed.

Others who spoke on the issue from Germany, France and Austria were unanimous in their call for urgent intervention- by way of reconciliation.

They opined that the herdsmen have also been victims of attacks from farmers, noting that failure to address the crisis could trump the nation’s democracy.

It would be recall that over 90 people have been killed since January in attacks by suspected herdsmen in various communities in Benue State (NAN)

 

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