DONT SIGN ANTI-OPEN GRAZING BILL, FULANI HERDSMEN WARN ORTOM.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) yesterday cautioned Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State against signing the bill outlawing open rearing and grazing of animals which was last week passed by the Benue State Assembly.

North Central Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Danladi Chiroma, said the bill was intended to sack all Fulani herders including those indigenous to the state, adding that, “there is already panic among the Fulani in Makurdi and we have been trying to calm them. Most of them have lived their whole lives in Makurdi and now the House of Assembly is telling them to leave the state when the Nigerian constitution gives every individual the right to live and practice his occupation in every part of this country.”

Chiroma, who visited Daily Trust office in Jos, described Governor Ortom as a man of peace but said when signed into law, the bill intends to cause chaos in Makurdi and pitch the herders in nearby states against their Tiv brothers, who live outside Benue State.

“Right now if you go to Keana, Obi, Doma and Awe local government areas of Nasarawa State, you will find heavy presence of Tiv community living peacefully with their Fulani brothers and sisters and so when you sack the Fulani from Benue state, they will have nowhere to go but any of the four local government areas which will likely create another form of tension,” he said. BY BENUE.COM.NG