Although the purpose of the meeting is not yet public, The PUNCH gathered that the participants will present a document containing key recommendations on quelling farmer-herder clashes nationwide.
A source who spoke with our correspondent said the meeting which began at about 3:00 local time requires the presence of the service chiefs as it borders on national security.
Since 1999, farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria have claimed thousands of lives as disputes over arable land resources between herders and farmers festers in the country’s North Central.
On August 29, Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, put the total number of lives lost at over 60,000 when he opened a stakeholders’ interactive session held by the House Ad-hoc Committee.
The session was themed ‘Recurring Annual Clashes Between Farmers and Herders In Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area Of Gombe State, And Neighbouring Local Government Areas, including Other Regions Of The Country With Similar Incidents’
Abbas lamented that, farmer-herder clashes which were hitherto seen as a regional or a confined conflict have ballooned into many West African countries.
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