June 10, (THEWILL)- The Joint Military Task Force on the Plateau and Environs Crises, also known as Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) has held a seminar with stakeholders of the interfacing states of Plateau, Bauchi, and Kaduna to forestall the prospect of farmer- herder clashes as the rains and farming season sets in.
Tagged security seminar with participants drawn from the seventeen local government areas of Plateau State, five local government areas in Kaduna state, and two local government areas in Bauchi State, the theme of the seminar was “peaceful coexistence: panacea for a successful farming season”.
Addressing the stakeholders when declaring the one-day seminar open, the GOC 3 Div and Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Major General A E Abubakar noted that he is not “oblivious of the challenges faced during the farming season including farm destruction and attack on livestock with reprisals which sometimes degenerate into vicious cycle of violence”.
The GOC explained that “this seminar is organised to address these challenges towards ensuring a hitch-free and successful farming season this year and beyond. The fact that the agricultural sector is crucial to the overall development of any state or nation needs no further emphasis”.
According to the GOC said “we must thus create an enabling environment for both farming and herding activities to be carried out without fear or conflict”, adding that “this seminar will offer the platform for dialogue amongst stakeholders towards fashioning out modalities for a secure, peaceful, and successful farming season this year”.
“I am not unaware of the losses accruing from farms destruction and attacks on cattle during the farming season. However, it should be noted that attacks and reprisals over losses of the past would only lead to more losses and further aggravate poverty and worsen the socio-economic situation in the various communities. We must therefore learn to forgive and forget real or perceived grievances because it is only in an atmosphere of peace that economic activities thrive”, the GOC cautioned.
Various resource persons presented positions and papers during the well- attended day-long seminar as the messages of peace and tolerance of one another resonated through the presentations.
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