Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka has advised Nigerians to organise themselves into formidable groups to resist the incursion of armed herdsmen into their communities.
He made this known while speaking with journalists in Lagos on Tuesday.
The playwright also urged relevant authorities in the country to rise to their statutory responsibility of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.
He stated that while herdsmen and farmers clashes were not new, they had taken an alarming dimension in the last eight years.
While making a case for an organised resistance against the killer herdsmen, Soyinka said the assailants had constituted themselves into a new breed of Boko Haram and internal colonialists, hence the need for united action to check their nefarious activities.
He said, “The important thing is the consciousness of a need for organised resistance against the incursion of cows.
“In Ogun State, we have formed a sort of informal organisation called OSHA, Ogun State Hunters Association and we intend to collaborate with similar movements, the police and the military.”
He equally commended governors who have setup task teams to protect their people, calling for the proper equipping of the teams to discharge their responsibilities.
“I wish to commend the governors in the various organisation which are now beginning to understand that they must start policing themselves.
“If we want to take the phenomenon seriously, it will be to ensure that anytime they see an armed herdsman, they report to the nearest police station. If by a certain time that group of armed herdsmen are not disarmed, then this organisation will move and disarm them.”
Furthermore, Soyinka condemned the ‘body language’ of the government on the issue.
He also condemned the call for the establishment of cattle colonies, stressing that Nigeria should adopt ranching as the best option to address the problem.
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