Ortom inaugurates committee on grazing, warns unruly herdsmen

Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, at the weekend inaugurated the Advisory Committee on Implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing Law.

Responsibilities of the eight-member committee include offering advice or recommendations on administration of the law, establishment of ranches, and modification of boundaries.

Ortom stated that the November 1, 2017 deadline for implementation of the law remained unchanged and warned cattlemen intent at mischief to beware.

Held at the Banquet Hall of Benue People’s House in Makurdi, the governor insisted that the law was the only solution to incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

He reiterated the determination of his administration to implement the law and charged the committee to weed members with questionable character, and work with the Livestock Guard, earlier inaugurated, to ensure successful implementation.

Chairman of the committee, retired Colonel Edwin Jando, said the team would sensitise people on details of the law.

He disclosed that preparatory to implementation, six pilot ranches would be established across the state and provided with infrastructure, including police posts where herdsmen who flout the law would be detained alongside their cattle.

At the meeting were the state’s 23 council chairmen, traditional rulers, Fulani leaders, farmers, Livestock Guards, Civilian Joint Task Force, and security agencies.