The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) on Tuesday, called on relevant organs of government to fish out the lawless elements disturbing the peace that Nigerians used to enjoy wherever they resided across the country.
The herders’ union said that the growing spate of insecurity in the South East wasn't targeted at its members, adding that the good people of the South-East region had been equally affected. 

The South-East Zonal Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, disclosed this in a statement issued in Enugu, titled "Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association Of Nigeria (MACBAN) South-East zone reacts to the recent media altercation between Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) over the burning of a cattle laden truck in Anambra State". 
There has been an increasingly hostile war of words between another herders’ association called Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) over a recent attack on a truck loaded with cattle in Anambra State. 
However, the MACBAN zonal chairman in the statement said that though the incident was reprehensible and the perpetrators must be brought to justice, the situation should not be allowed to degenerate further. 
The statement partly reads, "There is no doubt that our country, Nigeria, is in perilous times. The spate of insecurity that keeps spreading across the length and breadth of the country confirms this. 
"While we of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, continue to sue for peace amongst aggrieved Nigerians across ethnic divides, we advise the relevant organs of government to dig in and fish out the lawless elements causing harm and hurt to the warm fellowship and good neighbourliness that Nigerians used to enjoy wherever they resided across the country. 
"We call on Government, Federal, State and Local Governments, to galvanize efforts towards improving the lives of Nigerians by issuing policies that will drastically reduce the huge population of Nigerians in abject poverty. It is beyond contestation that hunger, deprivation and extreme poverty breed unruly acts that include criminality and other anti-social indulgences."
It added that the “security challenge in the South East is not an isolated case from the totality of insecurity in Nigeria. It is evident that while our herders have suffered victims of the dastardly operations of the lawless gangs who are differently addressed, we share this victimhood with other Nigerians including South Easterners who fall into the devious hands of the men of the underworld”. 
It added, "People have been indiscriminately killed and government’s, as well as personal valuables, have been lost to these gangs that have largely adopted the tag of ‘Unknown gunmen’. It is therefore a burden on society that everyone and the government are called upon to contribute to its reduction and eventual eradication.
"With every sense of responsibility, I observed the hostile exchange between the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (not Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria – MACBAN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, over the Sunday morning burning of a truck loaded with cattle along Uga-Ezinifite-Igboukwu Road in Anambra State. Some Northern persons in the truck were reported hurt and the cow consignment let loose. This is unfortunate, deplorable and most condemnable. 
"While we of Miyetti Allah Cattle Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, unreservedly lend support to voices condemning whatever would have informed that act and whoever executed it, and while we insist that Government should trace and bring the perpetrators to book, we do not subscribe to the mode of the altercation between the two aforementioned interest organisations. 
"We insist it was a security breach which the Government and its security agencies have the responsibility of interrogating. Since it serves neither any of the contending groups nor the society any good to provoke further tension and escalate the insecurity we all detest, we of MACBAN advise that reason prevails in our collective drive for a more habitable neighbourhood that will be beneficial to everyone.
"We are optimistic that the daunting security challenges the country is faced with now are reined in, in no distant time.”