Rep calls for life, death sentences for killer herdsmen, bandits

The chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Muktar Dan-Dutse, has called on the House of Representative to pass a stiffer law that will carry the death penalty or life sentence against banditry and killer herdsmen.

Mr Dan-Dutse made the call while speaking with journalists during the inauguration of the FCT chapter of the Maize Association and input distribution for the wet season farming by the CBN.

According to him, the attacks by bandits and killer herdsmen have affected farmers in some parts of the country.

He said there were existing laws that needed to be repealed or amended to ensure that the issues of stiffer penalties against banditry and killer herdsmen would be properly defined and captured.

“We are coming with a stiffer law that will ensure that anyone found guilty of banditry and criminality will get a life or death sentence. In fact, there are existing laws but what is needed is to repeal those laws and ensure issues of banditry are taken care of,” he said.

He noted that with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive on banditry, there should be synergy and collaborations between stakeholders to ensure the efforts yielded faster results.

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“The issue is now decisive, the president has given a presidential directive; we will work together, the civil societies, citizenry and also the affected communities because if there is information sharing, the security agents will be more responsive.”

Mr Dan-Dutse said the committee was working on a new focus that would see synergy between commodity associations, CBN and Cattle Breeders Association to bring an end to open grazing, being the major cause of conflicts between farmers and herdsmen.

He called for collaboration between the National Animal Production Institute and the CBN to workout modalities for better animal husbandry in the country.