Insecurity: Another Nigerian governor bans open grazing
- The Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri, has put measures in place to check the clashes between herdsmen and inhabitants
- Diri said the enactment of the law prohibiting open grazing of livestock is a welcomed development
- The governor discloses the punitive actions violators of the law will face
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The Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri, has assented to a law prohibiting open grazing of livestock in the state.
According to Channels TV, the livestock breeding, rearing, and marketing regulation law 2021 were assented to on Wednesday, March 10, at the executive chamber of the government house in Yenagoa.
Source: Twitter
The governor explained via Twitter that the law was enacted to ensure harmonious living between cattle dealers and other inhabitants of the state.
Diri said:
“Bayelsa State welcomes all and sundry to eke out a living legitimately. The people of Bayelsa want to have a mutual and harmonious relationship with non-natives and natives. The essence of the law is to avert and forestall any clash between herdsmen, farmers, natives and non-natives as experienced in some states.''
The governor noted that the provision of the law stipulates that any herdsman found with arms, whether licenced or not, should be arrested.
According to Diri, other law further prohibits the movement of cattle on foot from other parts of the country into the state, among others.
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He said any person found engaging in open grazing of livestock on foot would be arrested and prosecuted with the livestock impounded.
Legit.ng recalls that the Benue state government was the first state in Nigeria to enact a law prohibiting open grazing of cattle.
Meanwhile, amid the rising herdsmen crisis in Ondo state and other parts of Nigeria, Miyetti Allah Breeders Association of Nigeria has said its members are tired of open grazing.
According to The Punch, the chairman of the herders association in Ondo state, Alhaji Bello Garba, urged the state government make provision for ranches, noting that such a move will put an end to the frequent herdsmen/ farmers’ crises.
Garba said this on Wednesday, March 10, in Akure, during a public hearing on a bill to regulate rearing and grazing of livestock and provide for the establishment of ranches.
Kess Ewubare is a senior political/current affairs correspondent at Legit.ng. He has both a BSc and a Master’s degree in mass communication. He has over 10 years of experience in working in several fields of mass communication including radio, TV, newspaper, and online. For Kess, journalism is more than a career, it is a beautiful way of life.
Source: Legit.ng
