Gombe lawmaker says God created herdsmen to value cows over human lives

A member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aishatu Dukku, believes that the reason for the

The representative of Dakku, Nafada constituency in Gombe state, made the comments during plenary session on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, when the lower legislative chamber was discussing the recent killings allegedly orchestrated by herdsmen in Benue and Taraba.

The lawmaker rebuked Nigerians for being too impatient to have conversations about issues and said the fact that herders value cows over human lives is not their fault.

She said, "I don't know why Nigerians have become so edgy now. Maybe because of the food we eat; we eat so much of maggi. We have become so impatient that we don't want to listen to each other. We don't want to proffer solutions that will be workable to our country.

"Mr. Speaker, I sit here and my colleague is saying the herdsman values his cows more than the lives he is killing, but it's not true. You can't sit down here and just make conclusions.

"Yes, the herdsman values even the life of the cow more than his own life. That is how God has created him."

In response, lawmaker representing Ado/Obadigbo/Opkokwu in Benue State, Honourable Hassan Saleh, fired back at Honourable Dukku's statement.

"No cow, not even 10 billion cows, has enough value like a human being. So when you say God has created them (herdsmen) in such a manner that they value their cows more than human beings, I find that very insulting and demeaning," he replied.