Bayelsa govt to arrest herdsmen that flout Gov. Dickson’s directives

CHINEDU WOSU, YENGAOA

Governor Seriake Dickson led Restoration government in Bayelsa State on Friday threatened that it would arrest and prosecute any herdsmen who graze their cattle outside the designated grazing site at the Bayelsa Palm area.

Bayelsa Palm is a grazing site provided by the state government at outskirts of the state capital for herdsmen to graze their animals to avoid clashes with indigenous farmers

Following this arrangement, the state government has successful relocated a group of herdsmen from the Ijaw National Academy in Kaiama, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the State to the designated grazing site.

In a statement in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Chief Boma Spero-Jack, said that, the warning has become imperative, because despite directives, a number of herdsmen have refused to relocate to the grazing area.

Jack restated the Government’s position, stressing that, the decision to create a grazing site was purely for security reasons, to avoid a possible breakdown of law and order.

He noted that the provision of a grazing site for herdsmen would eliminate any case of possible clash between the herdsmen and farmers or any other group in the state.
The state government, Jack said, would stop at nothing to protect the lives and property of the citizens, as well as protect the overall interest of the Ijaw Nation.

Chief Spero-Jack called for the cooperation of every Bayelsan, as the Government was doing its utmost best to avert any breakdown of law and order and urged all to be vigilant and not be deceived into believing that, the leadership of the State was ceding valuable land of the state to herdsmen.

He described such unfounded stories as the handiwork of mischief makers, who are more interested in themselves and the political gains they want to make and clearly not about the interest of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw Nation.