The Stadium manager, MKO Abiola National Stadium Abuja, Gideon Malo, has debunked the reports that herdsmen are occupying some facilities at the stadium.
He, however, stated that the herdsmen do access the facilities for grazing purposes, adding that all efforts by the stadium management to check the herdsmen have proved abortive because of broken wire mesh which has made them (herdsmen) to enter into the facilities unhindered.
Speaking with Sporting Tribune through a telephone interview, Malo said all efforts are in place to fix the broken fence to put the intruders at bay as well as to guarantee the safety of every Nigerian using the sports facilities at the Package B side of the stadium. While adding that the fixing and mending of the fence has been captured in the ministry’s budget for the year, he stated that the management has duly informed the Department of State Security (DSS) about the invasion of the facilities by the herdsmen.
“We have tried our best to stop them (herdsmen) but we have issues with the fence line. The main issue with this facilities is the fence. Some of the wire mesh have been removed. That is how they gain entry into the facilities. But anytime we see them, we try to stop them. They are definitely posing security threat to sports men and women who are using the facilities here. Even the littering of the stadium is one big issue.
“But the news that they are staying within the stadium is not true. We are just concerned about the security of our athletes. We have informed security agencies such as Department of State Security (DSS). We have done this severally. The DSS were here last year and we made the complain to them. This year we are hopeful that something would be done about the fence because it is already captured in the budget. Other vandalism are there as well. Because if the fence were to be in place, nobody can enter here anyhow.
“If you see Package A, nobody enters there because the fence is in place. It is so at Package B because of the broken points within the stadium that have no fence. But I’m happy that it has been captured in this year’s budget. So, hopefully before the year runs out, they would have done something on the fence and that would keep them (herdsmen) at bay. Once the fence is done, nobody can enter there. If the fence is in place, we know that our security is intact,” the stadium manager told Sporting Tribune.
Also, during an interaction with our correspondent, a security personnel within the stadium who simply gave his name as Jimoh, corroborated the stadium manager’s assertion. He said the herdsmen only come to the Package B side of the stadium to graze their cattle and nothing more. He said those who are referred to as herdsmen are Buzu tribe (from Chad or Niger Republic) employed to maintain the facilities were given a place to stay.
Speaking in pidgin, Jimoh said, “They (herdsmen) normally come here everyday. But those you see here are the Buzu people who work to maintain the stadium facilities. But I’m not sure they are from Nigeria. Apart from these people (Buzu), I have not seen anyherdsmen living inside or within the stadium. They are rather outside the fence and as I said, they only come with their cattle for grazing and after they leave when they think the cattle have had enough.
“The point I’m making is that no Fulani herdsman is living inside the stadium. I think people are worried about how they gain access to the stadium with their cattle without anyone stopping them, but none of them is staying inside the stadium. They are nomads and that is their way of life. They do enter anywhere but that is where it stops. They don’t have anywhere they stay here,” Jimoh said.
A young Fulani boy, Idris, while speaking with Sporting Tribune, said although he’s of Fulani extraction, he has never left Abuja where he was born for almost 20 years.
“I’m Fulani but I have never left Abuja for once. I was born and raised here in Abuja and I don’t even know my state. I went to primary and secondary school here and I’ll be 20 years old soon. I like what I’m doing. Someone gave me this cattle to take care of them. I bring them here for grazing all the way from Durumi 1 and go back home. We don’t stay here. We only bring our cattle here to graze,” Idris said.
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