The leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), has called on the Gombe State and the Nigerian Government to organise a sensitisation campaign to create awareness to herdsmen on the novel Coronavirus.

The state secretary of the association, Aminu Sulaiman Wuro-Bokki, who made the call in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust newspaper, said most of the herdsmen were still unaware about the outbreak of the pandemic.

He said most of the herdsmen were living in hamlets and villages far away from the cities and major towns, where the state taskforce committee on the COVID-19 concentrated their awareness campaign.

Wuro-Bokki warned that an outbreak of the pandemic among herdsmen will be disastrous and have a devastating effect on the general populace, especially that the virus can be transmitted from human to animals and vice versa.

“Our herdsmen are virtually living with their cattle 24 hours. In the event of an outbreak in any of their settlements, we will all be in serious trouble. Because they take their cattle to markets, so also their wives and milkmaids who sale the cow milk in our markets daily,” he said.

The MACBAN state secretary said the association was trying to reach out to their members in their respective settings, but they lacked adequate resources to reach hundreds of their members who are scattered across the state.