The Catholic communi­ty in the three dioceses of Enugu, Nsukka and Awgu/Ani Nri dioceses, all in Enugu State, yesterday held a peaceful protest in the three senatorial districts of the state to protest against the nefari­ous activities of Fulani herds­men in the state.
They vehemently declared their rejection of the proposed national grazing bill currently before the National Assembly.
The AUTHORITY on Sunday checks revealed that the protests were generally peaceful in the three sena­torial districts of the state, namely Awgu, Enugu and Nsukka towns, where the protests held simultaneously.
In Enugu, the protest was held at Holy Ghost Catholic Cathedral, located beside Og­bete main market Enugu.
The Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Rev Dr Callistus Ona­ga, officiating priest at the high mass prior to the protests and street procession that ended at the state Government House, prayed for divine interven­tion in curtailing the activities of the Fulani herdsmen, who have continued to ravage and destroy the farmlands of the rural farmers.
He noted that over 70 per­cent of the citizens of the state reside in the rural areas, and depend on subsistence farm­ing as the major source of their daily bread and source of income.
Some of the placards dis­played by Catholic faithful, mostly the womenfolk read: ‘Fulani herdsmen stop kill­ing our people; ‘Keep all cattle away from our farms’; ‘Grazing bill will destroy our country’; ‘Government protect us from Fulani herdsmen aggression’.
The Catholic Bishop of Enugu state, Rev. Father Cal­listus Onaga, who addressed the audience after the prayer session stressed that they had planned to take and lodge their protests to the state Gov­ernment House but it is very much handicapped to get on with the procession to Gov­ernment House since the state governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ug­wuanyi is in their midst.
In his remarks, Governor Ugwuanyi promised to use his position as the governor of the state in ensuring that all deci­sions reached by the Catholic Church in Enugu state, con­cerning its rejection of the bill will be forwarded to the Na­tional Assembly through the National legislators from the state.