Dele Ogbodo in Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DH), has said, it is set to rollout holistic approach, aimed at ending the frequent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the country.
Speaking in a radio programme over the week end in Abuja, the Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said the military is currently appraising the situation and will soon put to an end the insecurity emanating from the frequent clashes between farmers and the herdsmen.
He said: “We are appraising the situation, the Defence Headquarters is strategizing and will come up with very a proactive and holistic approach to tackle the menace of herdsmen and farmers clashes especially those herdsmen that pose security threat to the country.
“And very soon, we are coming up with something very seriously to curb this menace and I believe that when we come on board, Nigerians will see it and appreciate what we are doing.”
According to him, putting final end to the clashes requires strategic planning, adding however that it is not every herdsman that is criminally inclined.
Stressing further, he said: “We have to extremely put plans in place to ensure that all those areas that are prone to these attacks are properly taken care of once and for all.
“Additionally we have what is called operation accord which is targeted to handle the issue of these herdsmen and this will soon be a thing of the past,” he added.
A former British Police officer, Mr. Vince Onyekwelu, in his contribution urged government to activate the biometric data of every Nigerian as it will go a long way in helping the fight against insurgency and crimes.
He said: “The bottom line is that having a data base can go a long way in helping the Nigerian army and other enforcement agencies in this fight against insurgency.
“On the issue of technology, we actually have the system in place already, it is just for us to clean them up and use them. We have the BVN, the National ID card, Drivers’ license, PVC and Nigerian passport.
“All that we need do is to empower the army or the police and they can clean this information up and have an ID system in the society so that when Mr. A is caught, he cannot say he is Mr. Z, because we have his fingerprint that can match with the system. It’s there, it’s just for us to use.”
According to him, using ICT tools is one but in practice it is a different thing, adding: “I want to see the likes of army officers on patrol being safe with the right gadgets and the right collaboration, the right partners and the right plan to do their jobs and save their lives.” He concluded.
