Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) is taking steps to check drug abuse among pastoralists, its president, Baba Ngelzarma, has said.

The association is also checkmating the proliferation of small arms within pastoral communities to curb insecurity in the country, he added.

Founded in 1970, MACBAN is a loose partisan advocacy group centred on promoting the welfare of pastoralists in Nigeria.

Mr Ngelzarma told a news conference after an emergency national executive council meeting of the association that it was taking steps to fish out bad eggs in its fold.

The meeting was held in Paiko Local Government Area of Niger on Saturday.

“As leaders and parents, we resolved to fish out bad eggs among pastoralists and sensitise them against drug abuse and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons,” he said.

He said state executive committees of the association would soon meet to evolve ways to complement the government’s efforts at checking youth restiveness among pastoralists.

Mr Ngelzarma added that to also complement the federal government’s efforts in ensuring food security, the association had established a business arm called “MACBAN Concept and Solution”.

The concept, he explained, was to give members of the association a new representation as a business rather than a cultural body.

He said the association would invite traders from major markets and other critical stakeholders to work with its members to proffer solutions to the current food crisis in the country.

He noted that after consultations, the association came to the conclusion that the current food crisis did not result from the high exchange rate of the naira to the dollar, but from insecurity, transportation costs and hoarding.

Mr Ngelzarma expressed appreciation for the military and other security agencies in ensuring peace and urged them to always observe their rules of engagement in safeguarding national unity and the wellbeing of citizens.

He also condemned cattle rustling allegedly by some military operatives and vigilante groups in some states, citing recent cases in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Mr Ngelzarma said also that more than 15,000 pastoralists had been killed in farmers-herders crises in which more than four million cattle heads had been lost in 10 years beginning from 2014.

(NAN)