NHRC Asks Security Agencies to Stop Herdsmen from Killing Innocent People

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the security agencies to stop herdsmen from killing innocent people and destroying their properties.

The acting Executive Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Oti Ovrawah said the time had come for the security agencies to work out a solution to the incessant attacks by herdsmen.

A statement by the commission’s head of media relations, Mrs. Fatimah Agwai Mohammad said the executive secretary of NHRC spoke against the backdrop of attacks by herdsmen in southern Kaduna.

The statement read: “Time has come for the government and security agencies to ensure effective protection of lives and property of defenseless Nigerians who have been victims of incessant attacks by suspected herdsmen in the country, Ag Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Mrs. Oti Ovrawah has said.

“Ovrawah who made this call in Abuja while reacting to the recent report of the attacks by suspected herdsmen which led to the loss of lives and property in southern Kaduna, Kaduna State as well as similar reports in different parts of the country, noted that the government and the security agencies must act fast to put a stop to these callous acts.”

She called on the security agencies to be more proactive, professional and committed in the discharge of their duties in containing persistent attacks by herdsmen, adding that there was an urgent need to prioritise preventive measures to curtail these attacks.

Ovrawah stated that the commission had received some complaints on the alleged attacks by herdsmen and would partner with other stakeholders to work out amicable solutions to the avoidable attacks.
She noted with regret that the incessant attacks had led to thousands of deaths accompanied by countless cases of displacements.

She also advised communities to embrace the age long beneficial relationship of peaceful coexistence and to desist from taking arms against themselves.
Observing that conflicts were usually fuelled by human rights abuses, she said addressing these abuses required an inevitable process of peace building.