Methodist Church decries menace of herdsmen in farmlands

The Archbishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Enugu, Most Rev. Christopher Edeh, has decried the menace of herdsmen who allegedly rape women and kill farmers in the South-East.

Edeh made the call at the end of the 41st Annual Synod of the church on Sunday at the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Abakpa Nike, Enugu.

According to him, the recent spate of killings, maiming and arson in many communities in the South-East as well as Benue and Plateau states by herdsmen is condemnable.

“Our women are constantly raped in the farms by the herdsmen and farmlands are destroyed by the cattle,’’ he said.

The archbishop urged the federal and state governments to imbibe the international best practices in cattle rearing by providing grazing reserves as well as educate the herdsmen on modern cattle farming.

He said that the recent call by the present administration to go back to the farms would be futile if cattle were allowed to roam the farms and destroy crops.

He also called for intensive funding of small and medium enterprises as part of efforts to diversify the economy to non-oil sector.

The cleric recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should urgently bring down the interest rate, and give loans on the single digit interest rate to enable people invest in other sectors of the economy.

He said that governments should withdraw undue taxation and import restriction on needful machineries to encourage local investments.

Edeh pledged the support of the church in the fight against corruption, saying that the war was needful for the country to be exalted.

He explained that the synod was to review activities of the church in the areas of progress and failures made in the previous year.

The synod was attended by delegates from all branches of the church in Enugu diocese.