Human rights attorney Maxwell Opara has said that he anticipated that when Nyesom Wike became the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, he would have acted swiftly to put an end to open grazing. He surmised that a lack of political will could be the cause of this failure. In order to address the issue of open grazing in Nigeria, he underlined the necessity of strong political leadership. He pointed out that the herders’ strong support was the only reason earlier attempts succeeded. He maintained that high ranking officials and security personnel were included in this support. He charged that the previous government shielded herders from repercussions by utilizing the armed forces and security services.
He said in an interview with AIT, ”When these herders are moving, the farmers will run. Most of the time, you will see the bad ones among the herders, they will use their cutlass to uproot crops and give them to their cows. they even move them into the city centers like in Abuja, you see them on the beautiful roads.
I’m even disappointed in Wike, I thought he would have stopped open grazing in the FCT. I don’t know whether it is the lack of political will. These people were able to achieve this thing at that time because they had their father who was ready to back them. If you confront them, he will ask the military to go and clear those people. If you get them arrested, he will ask the DSS to release them.”