Herdsmen as armed robbers

Security is a special issue that concerns every one but the populace usually accuse the government for not doing enough to saveguard lives and property.Therefore, protecting lives and property should be seen as a collective effort. Basically, in the Nigerian context, in every police station, there is an inscription that says: 'Police is your friend'. But if truly police is your friend, how come when you pass information to the police, instead of protecting you, the police will be the first to put your life in danger. In any event, the subject for the moment is the highway robbery being carried out on a daily basis across the country. This time, it is not the bombing but by the nomadic herdsmen whose job is seen as taking some cows across the Sahara during the dry or the rainy seasons, depending on the arrangement between the sole owners of the cow and the custodian in which these cows are kept. In recent past, this nomadic herdsmen only carried cutlasses, bows and arrows but surprisingly things are changing for the worst as they no longer carry bows and arrows but single barrel short guns. I'm sure the police are aware of this as an approval must have been given before the herdsmen could be allowed to carry such lethal arms. On the 15th of September, 2011, I took an Air Nigerian flight to Enugu for a market investigation for the Eastern part of the country, passed a night in a hotel and on the 16th, left Enugu for Onitsha, regarded as the biggest market in the Eastern zone. My journey was cut short these nomadic herdsmen numbering about 15 and all of them were fully armed with guns. We ran into a convoy of about six cars, two buses and one truck along Enugu/Onitsha road at exactly 9:45a.m, in fact the nomadic herdsmen arranged themselves in strategic positions as they ordered us out of the car as soon as the car stopped. As soon as the car we were in was stopped, two men, one with a mask on his face and the other one who was unmasked except the normal Fulani nomadic style of dressing. I even begged him in Hausa language but he insist and collected everything he could lay his hand on with a gun in his hand. Information reaching me at the moment is that, along Enugu/Abakaliki road, Enugu / Awka/Onitsha road, Enugu/Okigwe road, Enugu/Nsukka road,Shagamu/Ijebu-Ode road, Ore/Okada Benin City road it is the same story as the armed robbers you will find in these routes at the moment are nomadic robbers. All security agencies should please rise up as we know it is a challenge that needs to be tackled with some villagers or settlement centres along these areas. It is also observed that between 6:30 am ' 4:30 pm. everyday, these routes are dangerous zones for road users as these nomadic herdsmen who are operating as robbers, have turned themselves into terrorists.Suleiman Solomon Aliku08028714485
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