No plan to repeal Benue’s anti-open grazing law – Gov

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has clarified that there are no plans by his administration to repeal the state’s anti-open grazing law, dispelling rumours circulating in some quarters.

Through a statement issued by his Technical Adviser on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication, Solomon Iorpev, Alia stressed that the anti-open grazing law would instead be strengthened for better implementation.

The statement was in response to allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that his government was considering repealing the law.

The statement reads in part: “There is no plan by this administration whatsoever, no matter how remote, to repeal the anti-open grazing law. Instead, there are moves to strengthen and tighten the loopholes therein.”

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 Iorpev clarified that the bill submitted to the state assembly concerned the Civil Protection Guards, aiming to merge the livestock and volunteer guards to form the Civil Protection Guards to enhance the force’s capabilities.

Meanwhile, the PDP in the state on Monday urged Governor Alia to enforce the law banning open grazing to prevent ongoing attacks on citizens by armed invaders. 

State Publicity Secretary of PDP, Bemgba Iortyom, in a statement, condemned recent attacks on citizens, suggesting that the incidents would not have occurred if the anti-open grazing law had been enforced.

Iortyom highlighted reports from the North Bank area of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, where suspected armed herders killed and injured several people. 

He said, “PDP finds it inexplicable that Governor Alia has tacitly suspended the enforcement of the ban on open grazing, which is still operative as a law. This suspension has resulted in a heavy influx of herdsmen and their cattle into both rural and urban areas of the state.”