Gov. Ortom temporarily suspends Benue’s enforcement of anti-open grazing law

Following a spate of killings perpetrated by suspected Fulani herdsmen against local farmers in various communities across four local government areas of the state over a space of one week, Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, has directed the suspension of enforcement of the state’s anti-open grazing law for two weeks.

Benue was the first state in the country to promulgate the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017 in order the stem the wave of violent attacks suffered by local farmers at the hands of herdsmen.

While the farmers decried the destruction on their farmlands by the herders’ livestock, the herdsmen insisted they were observing the grazing routes established in the country in the 1970s.

Governor Ortom who disclosed the temporary suspension of enforcement of the law at the end of the state security council meeting in the wake of the killing of over 130 persons within one week, said the move is aimed at showing good faith ‘to all those who claimed to have come into the state without knowing there is a law prohibiting open grazing.’

He also said security agencies in the state has confirmed the receipt of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to fish out perpetrators of the mass killings across the state, a duty, he said, the security agencies should act fast on to bring victims of the attack some form of justice.

Oracle Today recalls that, last weekend, after over two days of violent onslaught by suspected Fulani herdsmen, President Muhammadu Buhari, condemned what he described as ‘extreme violence’ and directed security agencies to arrest he situation and its perpetrators.

President Buhari reacting, in a statement by his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, last Saturday, condemned the ‘use of terrorism as a tool in inter-communal conflicts,’ directing that the attackers ‘be found and dealt with’ swiftly under the law.

He also directed the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and military commanders to enhance surveillance on every front and to immediately review the security management in the affected areas.

The President further conveyed his grief and sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives due to the attacks

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those murdered. The entire nation stands united in the fight against the forces of terror and evil,” the President was quoted as saying.

The attacks on the people by the Fulani herdsmen is said not to be unconnected with livestock grazing  rights, as farmers continually face off the herders who encroach on their land.

Benue State has an anti-open grazing law assented to by Governor Samuel Ortom, in place and is the first to enact such in the country.

However, the herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence in 1960.

Last Wednesday, suspected Fulani herdsmen killed at least 50 people during two attacks on a village in Benue, authorities confirmed, Thursday.

Chairman of the Otukpo local government area, where the massacre happened, Ruben Bako, said that gunmen killed 47 people on Wednesday in Umogidi village in Benue state. A day earlier, three other people had been slain in the same place, he said.

It would be recalled that a traditional ruler in Apa Local Government Area of Benue was killed in an earlier attack along with many others before the attackers moved to the Otukpo Local Government Area on Wednesday, killing 46 persons including a 33-year-old son of the local government chairman and now the latest strike at an IDP camp in the state capital, which occurred on Friday in the Agan area of Makurdi local government area.

Benue state police spokesperson, DSP Anene Sewuese confirmed the attacks adding that the assailants had opened fire at a market.

However, Sewuese put the death toll at eight people, including a police officer.

The motive of the attacks was not immediately clear, though authorities said they believe both attacks were connected. While there was no claim of responsibility, authorities said suspicion fell on local herdsmen, who have clashed in the past with farmers over land disputes in the region.