Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
Anambra State Government, yesterday, resolved the crisis between herdsmen and crop farmers in Anam community, Anambra West Local Government Area.
Herdsmen had, on Saturday, attacked Mmiata Anam community, where the police command confirmed that three lives were lost and that the community had been cordoned off by security agencies.
Announcing the swift resolution of the crisis, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, said it was made possible by the Governor, Willie Obiano, who he said charged the state security council to immediately bring the crisis to an end.
He said Obiano also directed them to find out both the immediate and remote causes of the crisis and proffer suggestions on how to address them, so that a similar crisis would not erupt in the state in the future.
“Following the governor’s directive, the Anambra State CP, the state director of the Department of State Services, the commanders of the Army and Naval formations in the state, the state commandant of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security as well as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Security led other state security council members to end the dispute quickly.
“Meaningful discussions were held with leaders of Anam town and those of the herdsmen. It was apparent that the crisis was precipitated by the entry of some herdsmen from a neighbouring state into Anambra State without following the protocol guiding the conduct of herdsmen in the state.
“For instance, they entered Anam without informing the local leaders of the herdsmen association, who would have registered them as members and inform them of the rules of doing cattle business in Anambra State. The consequence was that the new entrants violated the rules in a repugnant manner and caused a breach of the peace.”
For years, Anambra State had adopted a code of conduct for herdsmen and crop farmers in the state, which has proved exceedingly effective in determining the excellent relations between these groups of people because both the spirit and letter of the code were widely acknowledged to be just and fair, and the implementation done evenhandedly and transparently. The faithful implementation of the code was considered one of the reasons the state has, over the years, been free of the clashes between herdsmen and crop farmers, experienced in different parts of the country.