Two herders arraigned in Makurdi for alleged open grazing

Two herders from Mahanga Village, Awe Council of Nasarawa State, have been arraigned before a Chief Magistrate Court in Makurdi for allegedly violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 of Benue State.

They suspects were identified as Yuguda Usman and Yakubu Damuna.

When the case came up yesterday, the prosecuting officer, ASP Hyacinth Gbakor, told the court that on February 27, 2020, the Commander of Benue State Livestock Guards, Linus Zaki, and his team, while on patrol along villages in Uvir, Guma Council, saw the herdsmen grazing cows.

He added that the herders abandoned their cows and fled on sighting the guards.

The Guardian gathered on March 13, 2020 when the herders came back to collect their cows, they were arrested for violating section 19(2) of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue State.

Pleading not guilty to the charge, the suspects said it was their children that brought the cows to Benue to graze; that they only came to take the cows home when they were arrested.

The prosecutor, however, told the court that investigation was still in progress and asked for another date.