Ekiti bans night grazing, warns herdsmen against sabotaging agric investments

The Ekiti State government has issued a warning to herders operating in the state not to mess up the government’s huge investment in agriculture by allowing their cattle to invade and destroy farms.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Brigadier General Ebenezer Ogundana (retd), gave the warning in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting of the Ekiti State Farmers’/Herders’ peace committee at Jibowu Hall, Government House.

He said the government will henceforth invoke the full weight of the law on any underage found herding or anyone herding at night.

Ogundana, who is also the chairman of the committee, disclosed that Governor Oyebanji inaugurated the committee in 2023 in his effort to bring a permanent end to farmers/herder clashes in the state.

He affirmed that the ban became imperative in order to foster peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding between farmers and pastoralists in the state.

“Since the government will not fold its arms and allow the lawlessness to continue, the Herders/Farmers Peace Committee was inaugurated by Governor Biodun Oyebanji in 2023.

“The committee is to interface between the herders and farmers. In addition, there are other policies and control measures put in place to strengthen the relationship between them.

“Some of these policies include an Anti-Grazing Law, which is an Act of the state House of Assembly. The law is to ensure that there is no grazing at night, prohibition of underage from grazing, no grazing on farmland, and the defaulters are to be dealt with according to the law of the land.

“In the drive to ensure effective coordination and compliance at Local Government levels, the committee inaugurated 18 local government coordinators to serve as representatives of the committee at the LGAs. Gen. Ogundana said the effort will bring about the desired cooperation among herders, farmers, and the host communities.”

Ogundana called on traditional rulers, local government chairmen, and representatives of farmers and herders to create a forum where they can dialogue on the need for interdependence and to address the issues of suspicion and trespasses by either party, as well as educate one another on the importance of abiding by the Anti-Grazing Law of the state.

He also hinted that the government has set up farm settlements across the state in order to address food shortages. This, he said, is in addition to the Agro-Task Force, comprising security agencies to provide protection for farmlands and farmers.

Ogundana added that the identification of herders, farmers, and the host communities staying on the farm settlements and the registration of the concerned groups is in progress.

“This will enable the communities to identify intruders or criminals entering the areas to carry out illegal activities, instead of allowing innocent people to suffer. You are requested to cooperate with the team that will be going around to carry out the exercise.

“There is a need to prevent herders migrating from other states to Ekiti State. It is a general belief that the migrating herders come from outside Nigeria to graze in Nigeria. This group of herders is suspected to have some criminal tendencies and they are destructive in nature.”

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Ebenezer Boluwade, also revealed Governor Oyebanji’s plan to invest heavily in agriculture in 2025; hence the need to make adequate preparations toward ensuring security and protection of farmers and farmlands from miscreants that come in the form of herders.

Boluwade also noted that there is hardly any society that can achieve development without peace, adding that this year alone, the government had invested over N2 billion in agriculture, stressing the importance of seeing the turnover to encourage both government and farmers to do more.

Speaking on behalf of all security chiefs in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Kayode Akinwale, commended the efforts of the state Governor in ensuring peace and security in the state and called on traditional rulers to take charge of the security of their domain by constituting security vigilantes to protect their communities.