Governor Abdillahi Ganduje of Kano State has warned Fulani herders in the state against indulging in banditry as anyone caught and found guilty of the offence will face death penalty, The PUNCH reports.
Similarly, he said anyone caught involved in cattle rustling would face life imprisonment.
Ganduje gave the warning at the formal launch of the State-wide mass cattle and small ruminants vaccination campaign held at Kadawa Village, Garun-mallam Local Government Area of the State on Saturday.
We have succeeded in stamping out cattle rustling, as I cannot recall when we experienced it because we entered into dialogue with herdsmen who confessed and became born-again. We trained them and empowered them.
“So don’t indulge in cattle rustling because we have a law; if you commit cattle rustling, it is life imprisonment. Similarly, if you indulge in banditry, it is death sentence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state Agro-Pastoral Development Project on Saturday launched the 2022 free mass livestock campaign, targeting 1,025,000 cattle and 750,000 goats and sheep in the state.
Funds for the project expected to gulp over N170m were provided by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund through the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, the poverty alleviation arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, for purchase of vaccines, consumables, training and logistics, among others.
The objective is to protect the livestock from Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia and Peste des Petits Ruminants, major diseases challenging their productivity and health.
In a press statement, the Project Communication Specialist, Ameen Yassar, said the objective was also to improve the livestock’s overall quality of life, as well as prevent economic loss and promote human health.
Nigeria is one of the five leading livestock producers in sub-Saharan Africa, which plays a significant role in the nation’s economy, contributing over 20 per cent of the total agricultural Gross Domestic Product.
A significant number of the country’s estimated 20.7 million cattle, 43.4 million sheep, 76 million goats are found in Kano, apparently owing to the states’ relative peace.
Flagging off the exercise at Kadawa, Garun Mallam Local Government Area, the state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, noted that majority of peasants in the state depend on domestic livestock, especially cattle, sheep and goats, not just as a source of food but as a source of income, adding that any outbreak of livestock diseases was capable of devastating their means of livelihood.
“It is gratifying to note that from the data available to us so far, the CBPP and PPR vaccination exercise conducted last year was very successful, as 701, 042 cattle and 663,570 sheep and goats were vaccinated.
“I did not receive information on outbreak of CBPP and PPR in Kano last year but we are not relenting in our effort”, the governor maintained.