According to the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), unlawful cow grazing in farmlands in Imo villages has been discovered and is putting a strain on local farmers.
The group demanded the arrest of certain herders who they claimed were carrying automatic guns while grazing their cattle in open areas of Igboland and declared that no type of open grazing would be permitted there.
In a press statement, the group’s president-general, Goodluck Ibem, urged the Department of State Services (DSS) to act quickly and apprehend the roving herdsmen.
The organization claimed that “herdsmen with their cattle have brought great starvation on the people in Obasa Assa village in Ohaji/Egbema local government area of Imo State by unlawfully occupying and destroying farmlands and eating up the crops of the people.
“Indigenous members of the community have been driven from their traditional homes and communities by the cattle and their headers.
“Open grazing has been prohibited for a very long time, and anyone or any group of people still engaged in such an antiquated practice is on a wicked mission to seize the ancestral lands of the community they are staying in,” the statement reads.
The group claimed that there was more going on than just cattle grazing, which they claimed was only a cover, especially in light of the local herdsmen’s parades of AK-47 rifles and other lethal weaponry.
We demand the payment of damages for the crops and farmlands destroyed by the cows, as well as the prompt arrest of these terrorists brandishing AK-47 guns in the Obosa Assa neighborhood.
“We give the terrorists posing as herdsmen 48 hours to leave the neighborhood without delay and never try or even consider returning.”