Pains, Gains Of The Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition, Ranches Establishment Law 2017

By Mike Gusa

As  Benue State Government marks the third year
anniversary of the State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches
Establishment Law 2017, the States’ Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Mike Gusa examines the effects and
implications of the law. He concludes that the legislation had
practically achieved the intention of the law maker in the
State.

First November, 2020 marked the third anniversary of the Benue
State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017.
Although the  law, popularly referred to as the anti-open
grazing law, was assented to on 22 May that year, it came into
effect on the first day of November after a period of six months
grace to allow for the establishment of ranches.

It might be necessary to look at the background for the
necessity of  enacting the law which Benue State House of
Assembly passed unanimously after due process  including 
a very extensive public hearing and inputs for the Benue
populace.

Between February 2013 and May 13, 2017, records compiled by the
media in Nigeria indicate that Benue State experienced 46 attacks
by suspected Fulani herdsmen resulting in the death of over 1541
people and massive destruction of property including schools,
hospitals, residential houses, churches, farmlands in 15 local
government areas out of the 23 local government areas of the state.
The value of the property lost has been put at a conservative
estimate of over N400 billion.

The local government areas affected within this period were
Guma, Logo, Ukum, Kwande, Buruku, Gboko, Tarka, Katsina-Ala,
Makurdi, Gwer West, Gwer, Ogbadibo, Otukpo, Agatu and Apa.

For instance on February 29, 2016, the herdsmen invaded several
Agatu villages and farm settlements in broad daylight, killing
 children, women, men and the elderly population .

When the  gunshots  stopped, over 500 villagers were
reportedly killed  and over 7000 were displaced in 10 villages
including Akwu, Aila, Okokolo, Adagbo, Odugbeho and Odejo.

In Logo Local Government, the paramount ruler, Chief Jimmy
Memme, revealed that between July 1 and 16, the herdsmen killed
 over 85 persons, including women and children, from six out
of the 10 wards in the area.

The reasons  given for the attacks included reprisals for
cattle rustled and killing of herdsmen during conflicts arising
from the grazing of cattle in the areas involved.

People in several of the affected communities  were living
in perpetual fear, many vacated their ancestral homes for fear of
being  killed by the suspected herdsmen.

To put an end to these incessant attacks,  killings and
massive destruction of properties including farmlands,  the
Benue State Executive Council sponsored a bill to State Assembly to
enact a law Prohibiting open grazing and establishment of ranches
for the rearing of livestock in the State. The bill included the
establishment of the Benue State Livestock Guards to assist the
security agencies to enforce the law.

Governor Samuel Ortom of the State had stated that ranching is
the global best practice of animal husbandry which guarantees peace
between herders and farmers.

The people of Benue State finally got what they yearned for as
an absolute necessity. They came out in their numbers to make
contributions at  public hearings which were held in the
headquarters of each of the three senatorial districts in the State
as well as Makurdi, the state capital.

On May 22, 2017, Governor Ortom assented to the law, but
directed that the implementations should be suspended  for six
months to give owners of livestock time to adjust to the new
law.

Reaction from Fulani groups

One week after the signing of the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Bill, 2017 into Law, on Tuesday, May 30
 2017, the Fulani Socio-cultural group, Miyetti Allah Kautal
Hore under the leadership of Alhaji Abdulahi Bodejo, President, and
Engineer Alhassan Sale, Secretary, addressed a press conference in
Abuja and vowed to resist the Law. They vowed to mobilize their
members nationwide and beyond to resist its implementation.

The press conference was widely published in the national media,
appearing on page nine of Leadership newspaper, and page 41 of the
Nation newspaper of Wednesday, May 31, 2017 and page 18 of
Blueprint newspaper of Thursday, June 1, 2017  and several
others.

The group also made spurious claims to being the original
inhabitants of the Benue valley concluding that the planned attacks
were a struggle over the resources of the valley. Several other
Fulani groups including the Fulani Nationality Movement issued
similar threats.

Reactions to the threats

In response to the threats from Miyetti Allah and other Fulani
groups, Governor Ortom, the State Executive Council, Benue State
House of Assembly, ethnic and religious groups, civil society
groups and several others condemned the threats from the herdsmen
and called on security agencies to arrest the leadership of Miyetti
Allah Kautal Hore.

They also called the attention of the Presidency to the fact
that the threats by the herdsmen amounted to a declaration of war
on Benue State.

Implementation of the threats

The herdsmen made good their threats on New Year day
 January 1, 2018  by attacking innocent and defenseless
citizens of Benue  State in Guma and Logo Local Government
areas, leading to the death of over 73 people and destruction of
property worth several billions of Naira.

After these killings, leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders
Association, MACBAN, in Benue State, Garus Gololo, while speaking
on BBC News pidgin English said the killing of innocent and
defenseless Benue citizens on New Year day was at Gaambe-Tiev,
Ayilamo, Turan in Logo, and Tse-Ako, Tomatar near Tse-Abi in Guma
was an act of self defense.

Gololo’s interview on BBC was published by the Nation, the
Vanguard and several other newspapers on January 6,  2018.

On  January 13, 2018, the Fulani Nationality Movement,
FUNAM, after its meeting in Kano, issued a statement signed by the
National President, Badu Salisu Ahmadu.

The group stated that “the killings in Benue of Tiv is well
deserved,” they maintained  that it was revenge on the Tiv for
an onslaught in Nassarawa State.

The group stressed that they “noticed the recalcitrant culture
of the Tiv people as demonstrated even during the 1804 Jihad when
they obstructed our ordained conquest of Nigeria.”

FUNAM stated that it declared a Jihad, and called on all Fulanis
around the world to raise money for arms to support the upcoming
Jihad, as Nigeria, according to the group, is the only land given
to them by God.

“We have asked all Fulani across West Africa to raise money and
arms to prosecute the oncoming war. We call on all Fulanis to
prepare for this Holy War. There is no going back, all over the
world, Nigeria is the only country given to Fulani by God,” the
group stated.

After the group made the threat more than 200 more people lost
their lives in further attacks in Guma, Logo, Agatu, Okpokwu, Gwer
West, Gwer, and Makurdi Local Government Areas of Benue State.

For instance, on March 6, 2018,  herders stormed Omusu
community in Okpokwu Local Government Area around 3:30pm and opened
fire on the residents. Most of the victims were women, children and
the aged. A member of the Community, Mr Paul Abba who survived the
attack said the herdsmen who attacked were over 50.

“The herdsmen were over 50, they came and started shooting and
killing people. They did not even spare women and children. I ran
into my house and hid myself when I saw them coming. They went
about killing, it was only God that saved me.” At least 22 people
lost their lives in the attack and were subsequently buried in one
day.

The well orchestrated attacks took another dimension in the
early hours of April 24, 2018 when two catholic priests, Rev.
Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha and 17 parishioners of St.
Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpo-Mbalom Parish, Gwer Local Government
Area of Benue State were killed while attending an early morning
mass.

More opposition to the law

Apart from Fulani herdsmen and Fulani socio-cultural groups,
former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotum and the
former Defense Minister, didn’t see the law as a solution to the
farmers and herders clashes. The former IGP referred to the
killings in Benue as a communal clash and defied president
Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that he should relocate to Benue State
to restore law and order, prevent further loss of lives and
forestall the crisis from escalating. The then IGP spent only one
night in Benue State and reportedly relocated to Nasarawa
State.

The IGP also made spirited efforts to proscribe the Benue State
Livestock Guards and arrest its members and seal its offices, but
was stopped after,  by a court ruling obtained by the Benue
State Government. According to the court, the Livestock Guards were
a creation of law and only a repeal of the law could put an end to
the outfit.

The former defense minister, Mansur Dan-Ali said the blockage of
cattle routes was the remote cause of the herdsmen killings in
Benue and Taraba States while addressing newsmen at the State House
in Abuja after a Security meeting on January 26, 2018.

President Muhammadu Buhari also blamed the killings on
mercenaries trained by the late Libyan Leader, Muamar Gaddafi.

The federal government through the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture tried to introduced cattle colonies, RUGA settlements
as solution, but Governor Ortom and other stakeholders maintained
that Benue does not have land for cattle colonies or RUGA
settlements. They see ranching as the global best practice in
rearing livestock and have challenged anyone with superior
arguments to bring it to the table.

Success of the law

Despite  serious opposition to the law,  the resultant
loss of  enormous lives and property, the Benue State Open
Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017 has
recorded milestones. The rapidity and number of attacks on
communities by suspected herdsmen have reduced in the last two
years as compared to 2016-2017.

Moreover, the efficacy of the law has been tested in the courts
of law with amazing results.

From November 1, 2017 to October 27,2020 more than 400 herdsmen
have been arrested for violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Law, 2017. Out of this number, 261 persons
have been convicted, 21 persons have been discharged, 36 cases
are still pending, while investigation is ongoing in other cases.
Most of the convicts were able to pay fines and were released while
many who could not were sent to jail ranging from six months to two
years.

Within this period, 7,629 cows and 210 sheep as well as other
livestock have been impounded.

The law has also witnessed  the arrest, arraignment an
conviction of five cattle rustlers. The convicted rustlers were
mostly of Fulani extraction who confessed to the crime in open
court.

Besides, the law has ensured the arrest and arraignment of
people irrespective of their ethnic groups or religious
affiliation.

In May 2020, a housewife, Mrs Roseline Aondona, resident in
North Bank area of Makurdi was arraigned before a Makurdi Chief
Magistrate Court for violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Law, 2017.

According to the police prosecutor, Mr James Uhana, reported to
the police that the accused allowed her goats and ducks to eat up
his palm tree and melon in his farm valued at about N150,000.

Need for IDPs to return home

Despite the huge success recorded by the Open Grazing
Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017, hundreds of
indigenes of the state that were displaced by  Fulani herdsmen
who took refuge in several camps are yet to go back to their
ancestral homes despite the presence of military men code named
operation whirlstroke.

Though men of the Operation whirlstroke repelled many attacks on
Benue communities, some of the IDPs can not go back home as some of
their kinsmen went back home and met their death. Those who
survived have been left with lifetime injuries.

The federal government through the Vice president, Prof. Yemi
Osimbajo ( SAN) during his visit to the state promised that the
Federal  Government was going to support the IDPs to return
home and start life afresh with a support of N10 billion. Till
today the Federal Government is yet to fulfill this promise. The
IDPs need this support and a peaceful, safe and secure environment
to return home.

By Mike Gusa

As  Benue State Government marks the third year
anniversary of the State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches
Establishment Law 2017, the States’ Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Mike Gusa examines the effects and
implications of the law. He concludes that the legislation had
practically achieved the intention of the law maker in the
State.

First November, 2020 marked the third anniversary of the Benue
State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017.
Although the  law, popularly referred to as the anti-open
grazing law, was assented to on 22 May that year, it came into
effect on the first day of November after a period of six months
grace to allow for the establishment of ranches.

It might be necessary to look at the background for the
necessity of  enacting the law which Benue State House of
Assembly passed unanimously after due process  including 
a very extensive public hearing and inputs for the Benue
populace.

Between February 2013 and May 13, 2017, records compiled by the
media in Nigeria indicate that Benue State experienced 46 attacks
by suspected Fulani herdsmen resulting in the death of over 1541
people and massive destruction of property including schools,
hospitals, residential houses, churches, farmlands in 15 local
government areas out of the 23 local government areas of the state.
The value of the property lost has been put at a conservative
estimate of over N400 billion.

The local government areas affected within this period were
Guma, Logo, Ukum, Kwande, Buruku, Gboko, Tarka, Katsina-Ala,
Makurdi, Gwer West, Gwer, Ogbadibo, Otukpo, Agatu and Apa.

For instance on February 29, 2016, the herdsmen invaded several
Agatu villages and farm settlements in broad daylight, killing
 children, women, men and the elderly population .

When the  gunshots  stopped, over 500 villagers were
reportedly killed  and over 7000 were displaced in 10 villages
including Akwu, Aila, Okokolo, Adagbo, Odugbeho and Odejo.

In Logo Local Government, the paramount ruler, Chief Jimmy
Memme, revealed that between July 1 and 16, the herdsmen killed
 over 85 persons, including women and children, from six out
of the 10 wards in the area.

The reasons  given for the attacks included reprisals for
cattle rustled and killing of herdsmen during conflicts arising
from the grazing of cattle in the areas involved.

People in several of the affected communities  were living
in perpetual fear, many vacated their ancestral homes for fear of
being  killed by the suspected herdsmen.

To put an end to these incessant attacks,  killings and
massive destruction of properties including farmlands,  the
Benue State Executive Council sponsored a bill to State Assembly to
enact a law Prohibiting open grazing and establishment of ranches
for the rearing of livestock in the State. The bill included the
establishment of the Benue State Livestock Guards to assist the
security agencies to enforce the law.

Governor Samuel Ortom of the State had stated that ranching is
the global best practice of animal husbandry which guarantees peace
between herders and farmers.

The people of Benue State finally got what they yearned for as
an absolute necessity. They came out in their numbers to make
contributions at  public hearings which were held in the
headquarters of each of the three senatorial districts in the State
as well as Makurdi, the state capital.

On May 22, 2017, Governor Ortom assented to the law, but
directed that the implementations should be suspended  for six
months to give owners of livestock time to adjust to the new
law.

Reaction from Fulani groups

One week after the signing of the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Bill, 2017 into Law, on Tuesday, May 30
 2017, the Fulani Socio-cultural group, Miyetti Allah Kautal
Hore under the leadership of Alhaji Abdulahi Bodejo, President, and
Engineer Alhassan Sale, Secretary, addressed a press conference in
Abuja and vowed to resist the Law. They vowed to mobilize their
members nationwide and beyond to resist its implementation.

The press conference was widely published in the national media,
appearing on page nine of Leadership newspaper, and page 41 of the
Nation newspaper of Wednesday, May 31, 2017 and page 18 of
Blueprint newspaper of Thursday, June 1, 2017  and several
others.

The group also made spurious claims to being the original
inhabitants of the Benue valley concluding that the planned attacks
were a struggle over the resources of the valley. Several other
Fulani groups including the Fulani Nationality Movement issued
similar threats.

Reactions to the threats

In response to the threats from Miyetti Allah and other Fulani
groups, Governor Ortom, the State Executive Council, Benue State
House of Assembly, ethnic and religious groups, civil society
groups and several others condemned the threats from the herdsmen
and called on security agencies to arrest the leadership of Miyetti
Allah Kautal Hore.

They also called the attention of the Presidency to the fact
that the threats by the herdsmen amounted to a declaration of war
on Benue State.

Implementation of the threats

The herdsmen made good their threats on New Year day
 January 1, 2018  by attacking innocent and defenseless
citizens of Benue  State in Guma and Logo Local Government
areas, leading to the death of over 73 people and destruction of
property worth several billions of Naira.

After these killings, leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders
Association, MACBAN, in Benue State, Garus Gololo, while speaking
on BBC News pidgin English said the killing of innocent and
defenseless Benue citizens on New Year day was at Gaambe-Tiev,
Ayilamo, Turan in Logo, and Tse-Ako, Tomatar near Tse-Abi in Guma
was an act of self defense.

Gololo’s interview on BBC was published by the Nation, the
Vanguard and several other newspapers on January 6,  2018.

On  January 13, 2018, the Fulani Nationality Movement,
FUNAM, after its meeting in Kano, issued a statement signed by the
National President, Badu Salisu Ahmadu.

The group stated that “the killings in Benue of Tiv is well
deserved,” they maintained  that it was revenge on the Tiv for
an onslaught in Nassarawa State.

The group stressed that they “noticed the recalcitrant culture
of the Tiv people as demonstrated even during the 1804 Jihad when
they obstructed our ordained conquest of Nigeria.”

FUNAM stated that it declared a Jihad, and called on all Fulanis
around the world to raise money for arms to support the upcoming
Jihad, as Nigeria, according to the group, is the only land given
to them by God.

“We have asked all Fulani across West Africa to raise money and
arms to prosecute the oncoming war. We call on all Fulanis to
prepare for this Holy War. There is no going back, all over the
world, Nigeria is the only country given to Fulani by God,” the
group stated.

After the group made the threat more than 200 more people lost
their lives in further attacks in Guma, Logo, Agatu, Okpokwu, Gwer
West, Gwer, and Makurdi Local Government Areas of Benue State.

For instance, on March 6, 2018,  herders stormed Omusu
community in Okpokwu Local Government Area around 3:30pm and opened
fire on the residents. Most of the victims were women, children and
the aged. A member of the Community, Mr Paul Abba who survived the
attack said the herdsmen who attacked were over 50.

“The herdsmen were over 50, they came and started shooting and
killing people. They did not even spare women and children. I ran
into my house and hid myself when I saw them coming. They went
about killing, it was only God that saved me.” At least 22 people
lost their lives in the attack and were subsequently buried in one
day.

The well orchestrated attacks took another dimension in the
early hours of April 24, 2018 when two catholic priests, Rev.
Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha and 17 parishioners of St.
Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpo-Mbalom Parish, Gwer Local Government
Area of Benue State were killed while attending an early morning
mass.

More opposition to the law

Apart from Fulani herdsmen and Fulani socio-cultural groups,
former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotum and the
former Defense Minister, didn’t see the law as a solution to the
farmers and herders clashes. The former IGP referred to the
killings in Benue as a communal clash and defied president
Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that he should relocate to Benue State
to restore law and order, prevent further loss of lives and
forestall the crisis from escalating. The then IGP spent only one
night in Benue State and reportedly relocated to Nasarawa
State.

The IGP also made spirited efforts to proscribe the Benue State
Livestock Guards and arrest its members and seal its offices, but
was stopped after,  by a court ruling obtained by the Benue
State Government. According to the court, the Livestock Guards were
a creation of law and only a repeal of the law could put an end to
the outfit.

The former defense minister, Mansur Dan-Ali said the blockage of
cattle routes was the remote cause of the herdsmen killings in
Benue and Taraba States while addressing newsmen at the State House
in Abuja after a Security meeting on January 26, 2018.

President Muhammadu Buhari also blamed the killings on
mercenaries trained by the late Libyan Leader, Muamar Gaddafi.

The federal government through the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture tried to introduced cattle colonies, RUGA settlements
as solution, but Governor Ortom and other stakeholders maintained
that Benue does not have land for cattle colonies or RUGA
settlements. They see ranching as the global best practice in
rearing livestock and have challenged anyone with superior
arguments to bring it to the table.

Success of the law

Despite  serious opposition to the law,  the resultant
loss of  enormous lives and property, the Benue State Open
Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017 has
recorded milestones. The rapidity and number of attacks on
communities by suspected herdsmen have reduced in the last two
years as compared to 2016-2017.

Moreover, the efficacy of the law has been tested in the courts
of law with amazing results.

From November 1, 2017 to October 27,2020 more than 400 herdsmen
have been arrested for violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Law, 2017. Out of this number, 261 persons
have been convicted, 21 persons have been discharged, 36 cases
are still pending, while investigation is ongoing in other cases.
Most of the convicts were able to pay fines and were released while
many who could not were sent to jail ranging from six months to two
years.

Within this period, 7,629 cows and 210 sheep as well as other
livestock have been impounded.

The law has also witnessed  the arrest, arraignment an
conviction of five cattle rustlers. The convicted rustlers were
mostly of Fulani extraction who confessed to the crime in open
court.

Besides, the law has ensured the arrest and arraignment of
people irrespective of their ethnic groups or religious
affiliation.

In May 2020, a housewife, Mrs Roseline Aondona, resident in
North Bank area of Makurdi was arraigned before a Makurdi Chief
Magistrate Court for violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Law, 2017.

According to the police prosecutor, Mr James Uhana, reported to
the police that the accused allowed her goats and ducks to eat up
his palm tree and melon in his farm valued at about N150,000.

Need for IDPs to return home

Despite the huge success recorded by the Open Grazing
Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017, hundreds of
indigenes of the state that were displaced by  Fulani herdsmen
who took refuge in several camps are yet to go back to their
ancestral homes despite the presence of military men code named
operation whirlstroke.

Though men of the Operation whirlstroke repelled many attacks on
Benue communities, some of the IDPs can not go back home as some of
their kinsmen went back home and met their death. Those who
survived have been left with lifetime injuries.

The federal government through the Vice president, Prof. Yemi
Osimbajo ( SAN) during his visit to the state promised that the
Federal  Government was going to support the IDPs to return
home and start life afresh with a support of N10 billion. Till
today the Federal Government is yet to fulfill this promise. The
IDPs need this support and a peaceful, safe and secure environment
to return home.