Why bill for cattle colonies ‘died’ in National Assembly, by senator

The representative of Edo South Senatorial zone in the National Assembly and Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Matthew Urhoghide, has offered an insight to what may have made the pending bill before the federal legislature where states are being mandated to provide land for cattle ranching died a natural death.

According to him, the piece of legislation suffered a setback from not only members of the main opposition political group, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but also from other parties and lawmakers that lobbied for its killing.

Speaking yesterday in Benin City, Urhoghide stated: “Nobody can cede any land to anybody in this country because the problem in Plateau State where over 200 people were recently killed was because the original land owners gave their property to the Fulani to settle. We are witnessing the same problem here in Edo State.

“If we make the same mistake of ceding our land for cattle grazing, we are certainly going to regret it.“But what the Federal Government has done is that they have looked for weak states and desperate governors to choose their states as pilot ones for this project. God forbid! Edo State cannot be one because we have been victims of the Fulani herdsmen.”

He added: “Those killing people, destroying farmlands and raping our women are not really herdsmen. They are people who want to take people’s land and destroy Nigeria.”The senator therefore warned that “Edo State cannot afford to have a replay of what has been happening in Plateau and other states in the country.He lamented that although the country was not at war, it has, however, lost thousands of people to the senseless killings.