Ekiti State Government has declared that it will henceforth invoke the full weight of the law on any underage pastoralists found herding or anyone herding cattle at night in the state.
It also issued a stern warning to herders operating in the state not to make a mess of government’s huge investment in agriculture by allowing their flocks invade and destroy farms in the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Brig. General Ebenezer Ogundana (retd) gave the warning in Ado Ekiti during a stakeholders’ meeting of Ekiti State Farmers’/Herders’ peace committee.
Gen. Ogundana, who doubles as the chairman of the committee, revealed that Governor Biodun Oyebanji inaugurated the committee in 2023 in his effort to bring permanent end to farmers/herder clashes in the state.
He affirmed that the ban became imperative in order to bring peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding between farmers and pastoralists in the state.
“Since the government will not fold its arms and allow the lawlessness to continue, the Herders/Farmers Peace Committee was inaugurated by Governor Biodun Oyebanji in 2023. The Committee is to interface between the herders and farmers. In addition, there are other policies and control measures put in place to strengthen the relationship between them.
“Some of these policies include Anti-Grazing Law which is an Act of the state House of Assembly. The law is to ensure that there is no grazing at night, prohibition of under-age from grazing, no grazing on the farmland and the defaulters are to be dealt with according to the law of the land,” Ogundana said.
He added that to ensure effective coordination and compliance at local government levels, the committee inaugurated 18 local government Coordinators to serve as representatives of the committee at the LGAs, noting that the effort will bring about the desired cooperation among herders, farmers and the host communities.
He also called on traditional rulers, local government Chairmen and representatives of farmers and herders to create a forum where they can dialogue on the need to be inter- dependent and invariably address the issue of suspicion, trespasses by either party, as well as educating one another on the importance of abiding with the Anti-Grazing Law of the state.
Gen Ogundana also hinted that government has set up Farm Settlements across the state to address food shortage. This, he said, is in addition to the Agro-Task Force comprising security agencies towards providing protection for farmers and their farms.
He added that registration of concerned groups that will enable the communities to identify intruders or criminals entering the areas to carry out illegal activities was in progress.
He said, “There is the need to prevent herders migrating from other States to Ekiti State. It is a general belief that the migrating herders come from outside Nigeria to graze in Nigeria. This group of herders are suspected to have some criminal tendencies, and they are destructive in nature.”
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade also revealed Governor Oyebanji’s plan to invest heavily in agriculture in 2025, hence the need to make adequate preparation towards ensuring security and protection for farmers and farmlands.
Boluwade also noted that the state government had invested over N2 billion in agriculture, stressing the importance of seeing the turnover to encourage both government and farmers to do more.
Speaking on behalf of all security chiefs in the state, Commissioner of Police, CP Kayode Akinwale commended the efforts of the state Governor at ensuring peace and security in the state and called on traditional rulers to take charge of the security in their domain by constituting vigilante groups to protect their communities.
(Leadershiip)
