As a way of taming the growing conflict be­tween Fulani cattle herdsmen and local farmers, and the general call for the creation of ranches across the country, the Nigeria Securi­ty and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has announced that it will deploy 5,000 person­nel to man the proposed cat­tle ranches across the country when established.
The Commandant-Gen­eral of NSCDC, Mr. Abdul­lahi Gana disclosed this while briefing the management team and personnel of the corps on the recent development at the National Headquarters.
He said that the corps was prepared to man all cattle ranches across the country as proposed by the Federal Gov­ernment through the Ministry of Agriculture.
“The trend of insecurity and the rising crisis between the farmers and cattle herds­men in various parts of the country has resulted to de­struction of lives and proper­ty of the citizenry,” he said.
“This is indeed worrisome to the government and secu­rity agencies. Therefore, it has become imperative for the corps to deploy its person­nel for this purpose in order to stem the tide of vandalism and crisis among the herds­men and members of the com­munities where they operate.’’
He stressed that to avoid further wanton destruction of lives and property, the corps had restrategised its opera­tional tactics through the use of ICT and other equipment.
Gana also urged the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and other agitators to embrace dialogue instead of confron­tation.
He reiterated that dialogue and peaceful settlement of the offending issues in Niger-Del­ta would speedily usher in the peaceful atmosphere that is eluding the region now.
“The fiercest war in the world ended in the office and not at the battle-field. Hence, development can never thrive in an environment of rancour and ill feelings,” he said.