Muhammad Abdullahi: Herdsman convicted in Benue for violating open grazing law
- Muhammad Abdullahi, a herdsman, has been convicted of violating Benue law on open grazing and ranching establishment
- Abdullahi, who hailed from Nasarawa state, was arrested by livestock guards when he was taking his cows on open grazing
- Abdullahi was slammed with a one-year jail term with an option of N500,000 fine
Muhammad Abdullahi, a suspected herdsman from Nasarawa state, has been convicted by Benue court for violating the state's open grazing and ranching establishment law.
Presiding over the case on Monday, March 2, Isaac Ajim of the Markurdi magistrate court slammed the convict with a one-year jail with an option of N500,000, Sun reports.
Abdullahi was reportedly arrested with his cows by Benue state commander of the livestock guards Linus Zaki and his team in Guma community in what contradicted the law banning open grazing in the state.
Source: Depositphotos
Abdullahi was later dragged before the court where he pleaded guilty to charges levelled against him.
His counsel T.I Ikyagba prayed to the court to be lenient, leading to Justice Ajim's decision to hand him a N500,000 fine which he said would be paid into the government's purse.
Legit.ng recalls that a law establishing ranches was introduced by Governor Samuel Ortom following series of attacks and counter-attacks between herders and farmers.
The law was also enacted with the hope that it would tackle the growing menace of bandits and stop incessant communal clashes among warring communities in the state over settlement.
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Earlier, Legit.ng had reported that magistrates’ court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital on Tuesday, January 21 arraigned three herdsmen for alleged unlawful destruction of a rice farm worth N4.5 million.
The accused persons are Nafiu Mohammed (20), Mohammed Audu (20) and Bumba Karba (17).
According to the report, they were arraigned by the police on a count charge of malicious damage before chief magistrate, Mr Adesoji Adegboye.
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Source: Legit.ng
