Tiv community in America echoes rejection

Middle Belt Forum (MBF), a socio-cultural and political organisation representing minority ethnic nationalities in Nigeria’s central region, has rejected any form of compulsory land allocation for cattle ranching in the Middle Belt.

The forum also urged the National Assembly members from affected states to summon the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, to explain the policy and its implications to communities in the region.

In a statement issued on yesterday by its spokesman, Luka Binniyat, the MBF said it had studied the Federal Government’s renewed cattle ranching policy and was opposed to the proposed allocation of land for ranching and what it described as the establishment of permanent settlements for pastoralists.

The forum described the policy as a potential land acquisition scheme under the guise of livestock development and said it could generate tension if implemented without the consent of affected communities.

It said Adamawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory had experienced severe violence and displacement in recent years, arguing that communities in the region remained apprehensive about policies involving the allocation of large tracts of land for cattle ranching.

The statement read: “The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), after carefully studying the Federal Government’s renewed cattle ranching policy, unequivocally rejects the proposed allocation of Middle Belt lands for ranching and the disguised establishment of settlements for Fulani pastoralists.”

The forum questioned the rationale for selecting states in the Middle Belt for the pilot programme, while arguing that some northern states had large areas of sparsely populated land.

It also expressed concern over changes to the proposed locations for the programme, noting that Kano State, which it said was initially listed among the six proposed locations announced in January 2026, had reportedly been replaced by Nasarawa State.

SIMILARLY, the Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA), have rejected the inclusion of Benue State among states that have been selected for the implementation of the National Ranching Policy of the Federal Government.

The union said that its members took the decision at an emergency meeting of MUTA, where they resolved to oppose the inclusion of Benue in the pilot programme and also called on the state government, elected representatives, as well as other stakeholders to seek every legal and democratic means to stop the move.

The group lamented that despite years of devastating attacks on Benue communities, loss of lives and displacements occasioned by armed herdsmen attacks, a significant number of Benue people who have been uprooted from their ancestral communities continue to live in Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) camps, under extreme conditions.