Herders Never Invaded Umueri Airport— Anambra Government

Anambra State Government has debunked reports in the media that a group of herdsmen and their cattle have invaded the newly commissioned Anambra State International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri.

The government in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, and made available to journalists accused unnamed opposition political parties of having sponsored the publication to taint the administration of Governor Willie Obiano.

The statement noted that the Anambra state-owned International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri, was built by the Obiano administration at record time, and remains one of the landmark achievements of his government.

According to the statement, the perimeter fencing of the airport is up-to-date and cannot be breached easily, not by man or even far less by cattle.

It further said that two of Nigeria’s most reputable airline companies, Allen Onyema’s Air Peace and Obiora Okonkwo’s United Nigeria Airlines, are already running regular flights to and fro the airport, adding that the passengers have never complained about security at the airport.

The statement reads: “We refute with all the emphasis at our disposal the report that a group of Fulani herdsmen and their herd of cattle invaded the newly-built and commissioned Anambra state International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Even by the standard of sensational journalism, the report took fiction too far. There was no case of cattle herders gaining “entry from the Umueri route to the airport, destroying farms close to the airport.”

“The report does not make any mention of even cross-checking with the Anambra state government that built the airport and runs it, or the airport security or even the police. 

"Some envious elements within the political firmament have gone to great lengths to run them down the landmark achievement of building the state of the art airport by Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state in record time, but it goes beyond the pale trying to manufacture fictions about a fanciful Fulani cattle invasion.

“The cattle being bred in the Umueri area for many years belong to Anambra State farmers and investors, not to any imagined Fulani invaders. The perimeter fencing of the airport is up-to-date and cannot be breached easily, not by man or even far less by cattle.

“The security is sophisticatedly electronic and manual. The reckless journalism of inventing fiction and appealing to the base indulgencies of opposition partisan political elements deserves condemnation by all Nigerians.