The Association of Anioma Professionals has issued a strong call for a special security operation in Delta North Senatorial District to flush out kidnappers and armed herders from forests and farmlands across the region.
They warned that continued inaction could cripple national food production and threaten Nigeria’s unity.
In a communique released after its March 2025 conference, the non-political group decried the alarming rise in violent crimes, kidnappings, rape, and killings, allegedly perpetrated by armed herders who have taken over forested farmlands in Delta North.
“From there (bushes), they wreak havoc on farmers, destroying their crops, raping women, and killing indiscriminately. Many of our farmers are afraid to prepare their farmlands for cultivation because the level of attacks has continued to increase,” the statement read.
The group noted that despite the Delta State Government’s ban on open grazing, the law has remained unenforceable due to the state’s lack of control over law enforcement agencies.
“At the state level, the Government has enacted a law that banned open grazing. But lacking the platform and capacity to enforce the ban, nothing has changed,” the group stated.
They criticised the current federal policing model, describing it as “ineffective and ineffectual,” and called for a total overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture, including the establishment of state police forces.
“There must be a fundamental review of the country’s security strategy. Successive governments have played unnecessary and dangerous politics with insecurity in the country,” the communique stated.
The Association warned that unless swift action is taken, the escalating violence will deepen insecurity and provoke a severe food crisis.
They called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to implement state policing as a non-political, pragmatic response to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
“We call on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to give vent to the desire of the people to have a safe environment to live in and transact business. If nothing is done in the immediate future to combat this menace effectively, the continued corporate existence of the country will be called to question.”
Signed by the Association’s President-General, Mr. Peter Nkenchor, and General Secretary, Sir Phillip Ulakatu, the communique urged the federal government to stop playing politics with security and take decisive action to protect citizens and ensure food security.
“We believe we are better off as one country, but we cannot continue in this atmosphere of ceaseless attacks and killings of our people by armed herders occupying the forests,” they said.
