Abia State Government said that the state would not be ceding any part of the 17 local government areas for the establishment of ‘cattle colonies’ for the purpose of rearing cattle or grazing by Fulani herdsmen.
In a release signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of the state, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos stated that Abia State would not cede any part of her territory to Fulani herdsman as colony for cattle.
According to Governor Ikpeazu the available land in the state would not be enough to accommodate the agricultural plans of the state government, stressing that the available land would not be enough for the agrarian communities in the state to effectively carry out their agricultural activities.
Ikpeazu maintained that leasing out the land may cause unrest in the state beyond what his government could handle.
Part of the release read “We reject any plan to establish cattle colonies for herdsmen in Abia State.
“We don’t have enough land for our agricultural activities and our people want more land. Giving away any part of Abia land as a colony to herdsmen, wherever they may be from, will be most unjust and unfair treatment to Abia State and her people who are largely farmers.
“Such alien land occupation will also cause unrest and crisis that may grow beyond what we can handle when it happens, so the best thing I think we should do is to reject such plans so that those behind it will know that Abia State is not party to it.”
