Herdsmen Attack: Ondo Proposes Anti-grazing Law

Herdsmen Attack: Ondo Proposes Anti-grazing Law

Concerned by the incessant attacks on farms and farmers in Ondo State by herdsmen over grazing, the state government is proposing an anti-grazing bill to curtail their menace.

The Senior Special Assistant to the state governor on Agriculture, Mr.  Akin Olotu, stated this in Akure, saying the menace of herdsmen is getting out of hands.

He said no fewer than four farmers were killed in the last three weeks by the herdsmen.

Olotu said aside the killings, about 10 hectares of cassava farmland was destroyed by the herdsmen and their cattle in Owo Local Government Area of the state while some of the farmers were injured during the attack.

The governor’s aide said the activities of the herdsmen were not limited to a particular area in the state but across the state.

"The state government is worried about this development. Though the herdsmen are doing their business, they have been using their business to destroy others businesses.

"The destruction of farmlands has been a source of concerns to farmers in the state while those who are just embracing farming as a source of livelihood have been discouraged.

"Farmers have lost a lot of money to these destructions, obtaining loans from bank to finance the projects without making profit because of the herdsmen and their cattle. Farm produce cannot be stored in the barn any longer because of them," he said.

Olotu added that ponds and other farming facilities worth millions of naira were destroyed by the cattle and the herdsmen, saying the fishes were taken while the honey comb were badly harvested by the herdsmen.

The aide said the state government is proposing anti-grazing bill to stem the tide of the menace of the herdsmen while all herdsmen operating in the state and their cows would be registered with codes to identify them.

Olotu, who advocated for the modern method of rearing cattle in the country, called on security agencies and stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the frequent clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in the state.

Farmers from the southern senatorial district of the state last weekend protested at Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of the state over the incessant killings of farmers by Fulani herdsmen.

The farmers' protest followed the recent hacking to death of one of them, Orimisan Balogun, who challenged some herdsmen for destroying his farmland.

The protesters called on the state government to check the activities of the herdsmen before they take laws into their hands.