Why Herdsmen Ignored Akeredolu’s Order To Vacate Ondo Forest – Senator

The Senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Nicholas Tofowomo, has said herdsmen have refused to obey the order by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for them to vacate the forest reserves in the state because the order is not backed by law.

Akeredolu had issued the order last month due to the criminality attributed to the herdsmen in the state.

Tofowomo who spoke to The Punch said the order doesn’t hold weight because it is not backed by law.

He said, “When the governor gave the directive,  my thinking was that he would back it up with an executive bill to the Ondo State House of Assembly.

“It is his duty as the Chief Security Officer of the state.  If a law is passed in that regard,  police would enforce it.

“Now,  he also gave an order not backed by law because there is no structure on the ground that could make the police carry out the order.

“When structures are on the ground, people will know that you are serious. We have problems of insecurity in Nigeria because the Nigeria Police has failed. They are just like security guards. They have no vehicles to go to the bush.

“Many state governors collect between N500m and N700m every month as security vote but we don’t know what they do with it.

“They will just buy a few vehicles for the police. As of today, there is no bill against open grazing in Ondo State.

“The bill should involve all the stakeholders to be effective. Traditional rulers should be encouraged to set up vigilante and stop movement of cows.”

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