Fulani herdsmen cry to Buhari over ban on open grazing in Benue

The Cattle Breeders in Nasarawa State have called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene and prevent a looming crisis following the open grazing ban by the Benue State government.

The Nasarawa state chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said the enforcement of the open grazing prohibition law by the Benue state government will affect the migration of Fulani herdsmen into communities sharing borders with Benue and may lead to crisis.

According to the Chairman of the association, Muhammad Hussaini, “We are sensitising our Fulani people how to live in peace and not disturb people’s crops. We advise our leaders of the Miyetti Allah in most of the local government areas to see that the crops for farmers are not destroyed.”

“With the implementation of the grazing law, we are appealing to the Federal Government to look into this law so that Benue State should revisit that law. We want peace, we don’t want this international cattle road to be blocked, that is our worry.

“Some herdsmen are coming from the northern part of Nigeria and passing to Enugu, Abakaliki, Cross Rivers, Anambra and they will pass through Benue and if the international cattle road is blocked, we will have a problem,” he said.