A committee to end herdsmen killings? They are just deceiving Nigerians – Femi Falana

Femi Falana, lawyer and rights activist, says the federal government is “chasing shadows” by setting up a committee on the herdsmen killings in the country.

On Thursday, the national economic council (NEC) headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo constituted a 10-man working committee, including nine governors, to address the killings.

But Falana disagreed with the council on the move. He said the current administration has been aware of the herdsmen crisis even before its inception, and had promised to tackle it during its electioneering campaign.

“With respect to the national economic council, I think we busy chasing the shadows as a people,” he said.

“The government is parading Nigerians as a bunch of jokers. It is not rocket science to solve this problem. And I am bothered when leaders come out to make statements that give the impression that we are either out to cover up serious criminality

“We don’t want a committee for heaven’s sake! A committee to do what? To go and find out how many people have been killed? Or to establish the fact that we have been in this problem for five years running and nobody is addressing the problem… the committee is just to deceive Nigerians.”