Arewa leaders urge govt to curb herdsmen attacks, child trafficking

Northern socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has expressed concern over escalating rate of insecurity.

It listed areas of its concern to include child trafficking, herdsmen attacks, kidnapping and militant activities in the Niger Delta.

A communiqué issued yesterday in Kaduna, after its annual general assembly by the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, “noted with serious concern the huge number of young children from the North being ferried to the Southern part of the country for child labour and other child abuses by human traffickers.”

“It, therefore, calls on the state governments, security agencies, NGOs and the agencies responsible for the fight against human trafficking to collaborate and arrest this menace.

According to the Arewa leaders, “State governments also need to do more to expand educational infrastructure, skills acquisition centres and opportunities to accommodate children roaming the streets.”

The meeting presided over by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), retired Air Vice Marshal Mukhtar Muhammed, the ACF expressed concern over the general state of insecurity across the country brought about by the Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen clashes with farmers, kidnapping for ransom, cattle rustling and destruction of oil pipelines by the Niger Delta Avengers and other terrorist groups.

He said, “The ACF noted the success recorded by the military and other security agencies in combating these crimes, especially the degrading of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast and the crush of the cattle rustlers in the Northwest.”

“It is, however, concerned with the rising cases of kidnapping of people for ransom and clashes of farmers and herdsmen in some Northern states.
“It, therefore, urged the security agencies and intelligence community to step up intelligence sharing and take proactive measures that would avert ugly incident.

The AGA appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers to embrace the Federal Government proposal to dialogue rather than the destruction of the Nation’s economic infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.”

The Arewa leaders added that it was in consideration of the rising insecurity that the group approved the proposed security summit aimed at sensitising various stakeholders to come and proffer lasting solutions.

“ACF embraces the government’s policy on the diversification of the economy especially through solid mineral exploitation and agriculture, which used to be the mainstay of our economy. It approved the proposal to produce a template of solid minerals deposits in the north.”