The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in the FCT has promised that no cow will be seen loitering the streets during the presidential inauguration on May 29.

This is contained in a statement by Janet Peni, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) spokesperson, on Wednesday in Abuja.

“We will help to ensure that no cow is seen loitering the city centre before the big day,” said the chairman of MACBAN in the FCT, Usman Muhammad, during a meeting with the FCT Minister Muhammad Bello.

He added, “It is our culture to receive a visitor in a very clean and tidy environment, and in this case, the in-coming government is the visitor.”

Mr Muhammad promised to ensure a clean environment.

The chairman appealed to the incoming government to come to their aid, as cattle rustling remains a big threat, stating that over 300 cows were stolen from his blood brother recently.

Also, Adamu Rabo, chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) branch of the association, promised to immediately take the message to every herder in his domain on the need to cooperate with the government to ensure that the inauguration is peacefully and successfully done in a tidy and neat environment.

He assured that a message would be convened to herders not to allow their cows to graze on the streets of FCT.

Mr Rabo appealed to the FCT minister to urgently provide grazing areas to herders in the FCT where they can immediately relocate their cows for a lasting solution.

In his opening remarks, the director of AEPB, Osi Braimah, stated that the meeting was meant to rob minds with leaders of Miyetti Allah cattle breeders association, FCT chapter, on finding a lasting solution to the intractable problem of cattle grazing in the FCT.

“The inauguration will host over 47 Presidents and heads of state and other important dignitaries across the globe; hence the need to keep the city very clean and to ensure that no cow is seen grazing in the FCT and its environs,” Mr Braimah noted.

He said they had all arrived at a resolution and got the assurances of the chairman of the FCT chapter and the chairman of the AMAC branch of the association not to loiter at the FCT with cows.

He also warned that any herder seen flouting the law would be arrested with their cattle by a combined team of AEPB enforcement officers and law enforcement agencies like the Police and the rest, already on ground.

(NAN)