Southwest governors ban open grazing, illegal occupation of forest reserves
By Ayo Fadimu
The Southwest Governors have banned open grazing of cattles in all the six states that make up the geopolitical zone. The states are Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States.
According to a communique at the end of the Meeting between the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MICBAN), both parties have agreed to the prohibition of night grazing and illegal occupation of forest reserves in the Southwest region of Nigeria.
The meeting also resolved that grazing by under-aged herders was prohibited.
The governors in attendance at the meeting included Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Mohammed Abubakar of Jigawa and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun.
Others were Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and former deputy governor of Osun, Senator Iyiola Omisore.
Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, and Chairman, Nigeria Governor’s Forum, who read the communique, said that free range grazing must be stopped to avoid conflicts between farmers and herders.
Fayemi urged MACBAN to embrace and be committed to modern breeding process by creating grazing reserves and practice ranching to prevent cattle roaming about.
The governor, who said MACBAN also suffers insecurity and kidnapping, expressed confidence in peaceful moves by the states to engender security and economic opportunities in the country.
According to him, the order of Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State was misconstrued and misrepresented by a section of the media, “as he only ordered those occupying the forest reserves in Ondo State illegally to quit.
“No one has sent anyone away from any state or region but all hands must be on deck to fight criminality,” he said.
It would be recalled that Akeredolu had issued a seven-day ultimatum last Monday for the eviction of herdsmen occupying the forest reserves illegally.
However, some sections of the social media had misinterpreted the order, and reported that the governor had issued an ultimatum for Fulani herdsmen to vacate Ondo State.
Earlier, Alhaji Muhammadu Kiruwa, National President, MACBAN, had urged his members to desist from grazing cows into farmlands, grazing at night and grazing by minors.
Kiruwa, who assured of the cooperation of MACBAN at all time, directed executive members of the association in every state to work with all security outfits to tackle crime.
In his remarks, AIG Olufemi Agunbiade of the Nigeria Police, Zone 11, Osogbo, urged people not to give crime any ethnic or religious colouration.
“Crime does not have religious or ethnic affiliations. A kidnapper is a kidnapper,” he said.
On his part, Governor Makinde in series of tweets on his verified tweeter handle tweeted, “Today, the South West governors held a security stakeholders’ meeting in Ondo State. The meeting was attended by our brother governors from Kebbi and Jigawa States; security chiefs, South West zone led by the AIG Zone 11 and leaders from the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria.
“Collectively, we resolved to ban open grazing in all parts of the South-West. In Oyo State, we already have a law against open grazing which will continue to be implemented by our security agencies.
“I restated that we will not permit criminality as a response to criminal actions. Instead we will continue to support our security agencies to do their duties. Also, we will work with our people to face our common enemies – the criminals; kidnappers, armed robbers and bandits.”
Open grazing had been responsible for clashes between herders and farmers in the region. The rising cases of kidnapping and sundry crimes in the region had also been linked to the activities of criminal elements who masquerade as herdsmen in their host communities.
Violence had erupted in Igangan, Ibarapa, on Friday when a popular Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, alongside his followers, stormed the Fulani settlement in the ancient town to eject Seriki Fulani, Salihu Abdukadir, and herdsmen accused of perpetrating crimes ranging from kidnappings, killings, rape to invasion of farmlands with their cattle.
