The Benue State Security Council has warned all stakeholders that the state’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law is still in force and must be respected by all herders because it has come to stay.
The Council also directed all stakeholders in the various sectors of the state to ensure the full enforcement of the law.
This was part of the resolutions of the Council at the end of its meeting held Thursday in Makurdi, presided over by the Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
Reading out the resolutions of the meeting, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Tersoo Kula disclosed that a Sub-Committee made up of “the Commissioner of Police, the Director of State Security Services, the Traditional Rulers, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTITP, the Immigration, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs, BLGCA, and Office of the Security Adviser which would head the team, was set up to identify the heads of the Fulani herders and report back to the Security Council in three weeks.”
Part of the Council’s resolutions read “all stakeholders should note that the Anti-open grazing law is still in existence in Benue State and all must respect this fact and abide by the law.
“No single approach should be adopted but two or more, including dialogue approach
and stakeholders in the various sectors to ensure enforcement of the anti – grazing
Law that has come to stay.
“All the stakeholders especially the law enforcement agents should show sincerity in the implementation/enforcement of the Anti-Open Grazing Law currently in place in the State.
“Emphasis now should be on prevention of attack by the armed/criminal herders rather than the reactionary approach. And there should be no rustling of cattle in the State.”
The Council also noted the need to have peaceful environment for the huge number of Internally Displaced, IDPs, in the state to return to their ancestral homes.
While the Chief of Staff to the Governor was also directed to liaise with the Deputy Governor to look at the report on the boundary issue between Ohimini and Otukpo Local Government Areas, LGAs, of the state “as discussed in the previous meeting.”
Credit: Vanguard News Nigeria