FG moves to monitor migration of foreign herdsmen into Nigeria – Osinbajo

– Osinbajo revealed that the presidency will kick-start its monitoring exercise despite treaties of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) which Nigeria was a signatory to – He further said that some of the monitoring tools will include drones and scanners Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria vice president on Thursday, June 7, said that the federal government has plans to monitor the movement of herdsmen migrating into the country with their livestock. Osinbajo pointed out that the government move in that direction will take off soon irrespective of the fact that Nigeria has been a signatory to some of the treaties of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS), The Nation reports.

The vice president said that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have united forces to look over the approach of the movement of herders and livestock from neighbouring nations. Osinbajo said: “We are also working with Customs and Immigration to take a second look at our approach to the movement of livestock and herders from our neighbours, under the ECOWAS free movement of goods and services.”

He remarked that although international laws allow the movement of goods and services, but Nigeria often turns a blind eye to the required protocols. The vice president spoke as the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony of Senior Division Course 1/2018 of the Nigeria Customs and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja. He insisted that the herders need identification and processes, which were never kept in the treaty. Osinbajo said Nigeria would take action when international treaties pose threats to its territorial integrity, security and peace. He stated: “This free movement of goods allows the movement of herders and livestock, but the checks and certification required are not yet done. So, this free movement of herders will not be overlooked. “It is important for us to ensure that while we respect international treaties, where those treaties threaten our territorial integrity, peace and security, we take very stringent actions.” He noted that there was now enormous potential for border surveillance technology with the use of drones and scanners. Osinbajo took cognisance of the fact that the NCS received its highest revenue of over N1 trillion when the Nigeria was just recovering from recession.

Osinbajo said that with the collaboration in place, the federal government has reduced processes and documentation required for import and export. Osinbajo further said that the presidency was “in the threshold of launching the national trade platform, with the integration of all ports and customs processes and documentation through a single window”.

He added that the federal government is taking a serious approach to its anti-smuggling stance, which has resulted in the reduction of rice importation to two per cent.

The Abia House of Assembly on Tuesday, June 5, passed into law, the Control of Nomadic Cattle Rearing and Prohibition of Grazing Routes/Reserve Bill, 2016. The bill, which sought to control nomadic cattle rearing and prohibit grazing routes in Abia and for other matters incidental thereto, was sponsored by Mr Martins Azubuike, member representing Isiala Ngwa north constituency.