Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has declared that Nigeria is fully ripe for the implementation of ranching policing as captured in the National Livestock Transformation Plan adopted by the National Economic Council, NEC.
To this end, Governor Ortom urged more states in the county to enact the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to completely phase out open grazing in Nigeria.
He maintained that the implementation would not only protect farming communities but also stop cattle rustling.
The Governor urged the Federal Government to publicly condemn the atrocities perpetrated by armed herdsmen in Nigeria, arrest and prosecute the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and other Fulani socio-cultural groups who owned up to killings and destruction of communities.
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He said Benue vehemently stands against grazing routes and any other policy under the guise of open grazing, stressing that cattle routes are not only archaic but anti-development and retrogressive.
In a keynote address, Governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike, represented by a senior lawyer, Barrister RC Ndefor, described open grazing as a threat to the peace and unity of the country and sued for strict implementation of the ban on open grazing.
Earlier, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Makurdi Branch, Barrister Justine Gbagir said the association supported the enactment of the open grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment law because of its belief that it was the only solution to farmer-herder clashes.
