By Francis Ogwo
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel has ordered the immediate closure of all livestock markets in the State following concerns over the security situation in the State.
The closure will last till the end of May according to a statement on Monday, 11th May, 2019 by the Secretary to the State Government.
This was disclosed in a statement credited to the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem.
“By this announcement, no new consignment of livestock such as goats, cows and rams, will be allowed into the State until further notice. Livestock sellers are advised to sell off their stock and proceed to shutdown,” the statement added.
Speaking further, he stated that the government has instructed security operatives to monitor compliance to the order with defaulters facing the full wrath of the law.
This order is coming on the heels of incessant cases of mass movements of able-bodied men across the country under the guise of alamajiris or cattle rearers.
The argument has been premised on the physical looks of the arrested men, who observers say, look well taken care of, and even clutching bags without any trace of poverty as synonymous with the almajiri system of northern Nigeria.
The issue has raised concerns about the safety of the host communities as the identity of the migrating men to remain unknown.
Many have also argued that the inter-State lockdown measures between States and gateway borders have been compromised with the records of trucks and trailers intercepted by security operatives.
Very recently, Niger State Government disclosed that it intercepted a full load of truck headed towards Lagos from Kano. They raised questions as to the right of passage given to these people despite the lockdown orders.
This was the case, a few days ago, in Rivers State as Governor Nyesom Wike announced a proposed auction of cows and trucks intercepted within the State despite the lockdown order of the State.
Enugu and Edo States have also been in the news raising alarm of daily impounding of trucks within the State, with many claiming to be farmers and meat sellers and others claiming to be Almajiris.
While the fight against the dreaded COVID-19 frowns against the movement of people across States, especially the worst affected ones, the rate of these mass movements have become worrisome.
Experts say the situation might pose great danger in the regions affected if normalcy returns to commercial activities in the country and the trailer heaping able-bodied men are not what they claim to be.
The lockdown order of Akwa Ibom State’s Udom, the threat of an auction by Rivers State Governor Wike and other pockets of arrests of trailers and trucks, raises the curtains on the reality of inter-regional safety and the responsibilities ahead for security agencies while the country wriggles out of the web of economic comatose and deaths from COVID-19.
