The Commissioner for Special Duties in Osun State, Mr. Mudashiru Oguntola, has said the state has been able to settle about 5,000 conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in the state.
Oguntola said the proactive measures put in place by the state and the prompt resolution of the cases was the reason why there had been no violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the state.
The commissioner said this in Osogbo at a press briefing attended by members of staff and students of the Armed Forces Command College, Jaji Kaduna, who are on study tour to the state.
The commissioner listed Iwo, Ila, Imesiile and Esaoke as some of the towns where these conflicts between herdsmen and farmers were recorded. He added that the clashes between herdsmen and farmers were some of the greatest security challenges currently facing the nation.
He said, “The committee set up by state government on Security and Youth Empowerment in 2016 has been able to settle 5,000 cases between herdsmen and farmers in the state. That is why Osun is the most peaceful state especially when it comes to the peaceful coexistence between herdsmen and farmers.
“Also, in reducing the problem of herdsmen, we have dug 13 boreholes for herdsmen. We have representative from farmers, chairman of Fulani, market women and men, chairman of Bororo women in farming and others who assist in making peace. We are using traditional way of conflict resolution. That is why there is peace in Osun.”
He explained that most of the cattle rearers in Osun State were born in the state and had stayed long while some of them had married Yoruba women, saying there was the need for all ethnic groups living in the state to live together in peace.
The commissioner urged the herdsmen to get land for rearing their cattle, while stressing that the state government would assist them with necessary amenities in such areas in order to make sure that the existing peace in the state was not truncated.
By: Femi Makinde,
Punch News
