Fulani Herdsmen Invade Abuja National Stadium With Cows For Grazing [PHOTOS]

The $300 million National Stadium Complex in Abuja has been turned into a grazing reserve by Fulani herdsmen, New Telegraph is reporting.

According to the report, sometimes the herdsmen overwhelm the stadium security officials who try to stop them from their activities, especially at the Package B section of the stadium.

“It has been a routine for these herdsmen to herd their cows to this place for grazing, especially in the last one year. They invade the stadium at will and it seems nobody is ready to stop or caution them,” a security official attached to the stadium said while confirming the report.

On his part, the stadium manager, Sati Mbok, said the management has been making frantic efforts to stop the herdsmen, but they have rather continued to increase in their numbers.
The herdsmen who are usually armed with some dangerous weapons, have become a source of concern to those who are managing the stadium.

The herdsmen invasion of the stadium is due to the under-utilization and poor maintenance culture of the almost an abandoned edifice.

The report stated that many of stadium’s key facilities are rusting away and a huge chunk of the expansive sports complex overgrown with weeds.

The main bowl of the stadium is mainly used for religious and cultural activities, which the management says pay little or nothing in return.

The stadium is also now inhabited by some poor Nigerians who use it as their shelter in the face of lack of accommodation in the FCT.

Meanwhile, the minister of the FCT, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello recently barred free grazing by Fulani herdsmen in the nation’s capital.

The minister directed the Abuja Environmental Protection Board and the FCT task team on environment to get rid of the herdsmen in Abuja.