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We won’t allow herdsmen to overrun our community–Edo LGA boss

Hon. Okoro Sylvester is the chairman, Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Edo State. In this chat with our correspondent, ONAZENA ABBEY, he spoke on the killings, the havoc being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen in the local government, self appraisal of his almost two years administration and other sundry issues.

Only recently one of the communities in your local government was under siege by Fulani herdsmen. What are you doing to stop the killings?

It all happened in Igwulaba, Oben, Ugun ward in the local government. On that fateful day, we received a distress call that Fulani herdsmen grazing in the area are terrorising, robbing, molesting women, kidnapping and doing all sorts of atrocity in the area. We swung into action and immediately alerted the security agents and the Government House and to God be the glory we were able to calm the situation. The question now is, are the Fulani herdsmen helping us? You can see I had to summon an enlarged emergency security meeting today in the council comprising of traditional rulers, DPO, religious leaders, immigration, civil defense, market women, and representatives of Fulani herdsmen, including the Alhajis who are in charge of the cattle. We called them together to discuss ways to combat re-occurrence of the menace in this local government area. I can’t be sleeping while my people are being killed on daily basis. Some have fled their ancestral homes. They no longer farm for fear of being killed. Their cattle feed on our cassava and crops. I am not happy with the situation. Something urgent needs to be done. We have rescheduled another security meeting again for next month. We mandated them; all the rightful owners of the cattle are to attend the meeting. Their atrocity is becoming unbearable and I can no longer condone it. That is where we are now.

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There are speculations that the rampant Fulani invasion in the area is not unconnected with the aborted plan by Governor Godwin Obaseki to cede part of the land for open gazing.

Honesty, the governor actually summoned a meeting of all the eighteen local government chairmen and asked us to consult with our people, the traditional rulers, market women, youths to seek their opinion on open grazing on fenced and restricted areas. He was of the opinion that the idea will help to restrict the movement of cattle, including their business transaction. But do you know a lot of people disapproved of it, they opposed it. Their fear was that when you give the Fulani herdsmen an inch of land, before you know it, they will build their mosque, have children, marry more wives and at that point, they will lay claim to the land. It will become extremely impossible to ask them to go. Before you realise what is happening, they start invading farm land, destroying people’s crops. I reported the people’s stand back to the governor. That they said they don’t have land for grazing. Today, they are still grazing in our land, destroying farms and crops. If something urgent is not done, I will not rest. There is no way my people will be left to die in hunger and starvation, while I’m still the chairman of the local government. There is also no way I can employ all the youths in the local government. The only way they can survive today is through farming. As chairman of the local government, I am into farming. I own one of the largest farms in the local government. I also process. I don’t depend on the council. Financially, the council is constrained, that is why I am still surviving. I am a farmer.

Should the propose security meeting fail to address the issue, what will you do?

 When I saw the havoc they wrecked in one of the communities, Aku Ogbeide, very close to the council secretariat, I restricted them from the community. Up till now, no herdsman goes there for grazing. I had wanted to adopt same approach to other communities but I was prevailed upon on the need to allow them fair hearing. At the end of the day, we all resolved that henceforth, they will inscribed the initials of cattle owners on each of the cow for easy identification. Whenever offense is committed, it will also help us to held cattle owners accountable for any havoc done. We have cried out to the state and federal government to come rescue us from the hands of the herdsmen because the Fulani herdsmen phenomenon is ravaging every nooks and cranny in the country.

What is your take on moves by the President Buhari-led administration to grant local government financial autonomy?

As the chairman of Orhionmwon Local Government, I don’t really bother myself much about financial autonomy of the councils; whether the statutory allocation is disbursed by the state government or directly by the federal government. Anybody that is determined can always perform given the two scenarios. For quite some time now, precisely a year and some months since my assumption of office, with the little resources I get from the state, I think I have been able to make judicious use of it. It is true President Buhari has good intention for the 774 local governments in the country, but we have not started receiving the direct allocation they promised since June. We are now in July. Most of the time, we find it difficult to believe most of the things we hear on social media. We did not complain when the governors were in charge, we are still not going to complain by the time federal government starts disbursing the allocation directly to us.

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A year and some months of stewardship, to what extent have you been able to impact positively on your people?

 The people of Orhionmwon know the financial predicament of the council as a result of arrays of salaries arrears we inherited from the past administration. But you know government is continuity. We have commenced payment of workers’ salaries and I’m sure in the next couple of months, the arrears will be a thing of the past. But besides that, I have been able to utilise the little resources accruing to the council to fund the rehabilitation of twelve out of the thirty four health centers in the local government to make health services accessible to the people. With the support from Governor Obaseki, we have also rehabilitated some of the dilapidated schools.

What is your take on the state House of Assembly crisis?

 It is very obvious to everybody. As honourable members-elect, certainly there will be a day you will be sworn-in. The swearing-in is still ongoing. Some persons have been sworn-in, while two others were recently sworn-in. I believe when the aggrieved members-elect perfect their documentation, they will equally be sworn in. We are one family, one House of Assembly.

What the current crisis rocking the party, do you see Governor Obaseki staging a comeback come 2020?

 It is the good works of Governor Obaseki that will make him to come back in 2020. With what we are seeing in Edo today, his record and antecedent, I believe he will come back.

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