FG bans open grazing, relocates IGP to Benue

The federal government has reportedly banned the open grazing of cattle in the country.

This ban is coming days after suspected herdsmen attacked two communities in Benue state.

The decision to ban the group, National Daily gathered was reached after a meeting of a federal government delegation, security agencies and five governors. Samuel Ortorm, Benue state governor, was said to have made the decision known in a communique issued after the meeting.

“The meeting noted that all animal farmers must ranch their cattle and livestock for better productivity. It also observed the existing synergy between the security agencies and between the states and the Federal Government,” Ortom was quoted as saying.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted for hours, was attended by the governors of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger and Taraba states, and heads of security agencies.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered Ibrahim Idris, the inspector-general of police, to move to Benue to restore law and order, prevent further loss of lives and forestall the crisis from escalating.

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Jimoh Moshood, polise spokesman, said the order followed the recent unfortunate killings of innocent people in Guma and Logo local government areas of the state. He said in compliance with the presidential order, the IG is moving with additional five units of police mobile force making a total of 10 Units deployed to the state.

“More units of the police Special Forces, counter terrorism units, and conventional policemen are already being deployed to the state as at this time today to comply in totality with the Presidential order,” he said.

He said other units of the force already deployed to the state would carry on with the patrols and crime prevention activities in the affected areas to sustain the normalcy that has been restored.

The spokesman warned that the Force would not hesitate to deal decisively with trouble makers, groups or individuals for conduct likely to instigate the escalation of the crisis. “The full weight of the law will be applied on anyone arrested for being responsible for the mayhem in the affected areas in the State,” he said.

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He implored the people to cooperate with the police in its effort to restore lasting peace in the state.