Stakeholders in Edo seek ban on open grazing

Stakeholders at a two-day public hearing on the bill for a law to establish the Edo State Control of Nomadic Cattle Rearing/Grazing called on the state government to ban open grazing.

Speaking at the public hearing organised by the state House of Assembly on Friday, a professor of Law, at the University of Benin, (UNIBEN) Edoba Omoregie, called on the government to enforce the law by banning open grazing and restrict cattle to ranches which should be privately owned.

He said an existing law on Animal Diseases empowers the state executive council to regulate the activities of cattle rearers.

“What the House should do now is to examine the existing law and put machinery in motion to amend relevant sections to address the menace of herdsmen in the state,” he said.

On his part, the coordinator of Civil Society Organizations in the state, Mr Omobude Agho, advised against designating lands for ranches to non-indigenes.

Also speaking, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo chapter, Roland Osakue, advocated that the existing law be amended to curb what he called the outdated way of cattle rearing in the state.

On his part, the chairman of the All Farmers Association (AFAN), Emmanuel Odigie called on the Oba of Benin to prevail on community heads to stop collecting cows from cattle rearers.