The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has reacted to recent claims by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association following the implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, which came into full effect on Wednesday, November 1.
The group had claimed that 10,000 herdsmen have been displaced while over 600 cows have died in Benue state since the implementation of the law.
In a statement sent to newsmen by the chief press secretary to the governor, Terver Akase, the Benue government faulted the claims and described it as contradictory following an earlier claim by the Miyetti Allah that the its members will voluntarily leave the state due to the new law.
Governor Ortom said no amount of threats from the Miyetti Allah’s would stop the ranching law in Benue state. Source: Twitter
“We find the allegation by the group as contradictory as it has come. This is because the same group had said two weeks ago that Fulani pastoralists decided to voluntarily leave Benue state because, according to them, they will never accept the law banning open grazing in the state.
“Miyetti Allah Kautal Ho*e’s insinuation that thousands of herders have been driven out of Benue with 600 cows dead is therefore a sharp contradiction to their earlier published stand.
“The claim by the group that they are under threat as a result of their stand against the Open Grazing Prohibition Law of Benue State is similarly hypocritical. Miyetti Allah Kautal officer has in the last couple of months been drumming for war and threatening to mobilize their members to attack the people of Benue state.
“The group’s alarm that a Fulani cattle owner in Benue recently jumped into River Benue is another ridiculous fabrication aimed at creating an atmosphere of apprehension in the state,” the statement.
The government reiterated its call for the arrest of the group’s president, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo and its secretary, Saleh Alhassan, accusing them of making statements capable of causing the breakdown of law and order in Benue state.
“We wish to once more urge security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, apprehend officials of Miyetti Allah Kautal officers for questioning. Hundreds of Benue people have been killed by herdsmen in the last couple of years.
“Now that the Miyetti Allah group has openly assumed responsibility as the umbrella body shielding the killer herdsmen, it is pertinent that they are arrested and made to account for the blood of the innocent persons,” the statement said.
The government stated that Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law has come to stay, adding that ”its implementation is ongoing without hitches.”
It further noted that the law is meant to protect both farmers and herdsmen, stressing that it is not enacted to witch hunt any group of persons or individuals.
“We encourage livestock owners to obey provisions of the law to enable them establish ranches for rearing of their animals. This is the best way to end frequent invasion of Benue communities and killing of innocent people,” the statement concluded.