Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has affirmed that his government will enforce the ban on open grazing of cattle in the State.
According to the governor, it has become imperative to strictly enforce the law, as bandits have infiltrated the region to commit atrocities.
Ikpeazu said this during a zoom meeting with top journalists of Abia extraction under the aegis of Abia Media Forum.
The governor said a bill is already in place to enforce the ban and to check the activities of criminal elements disguising as nomads.
Governors of the Southern states recently resolved in Asaba, Delta State, to ban open grazing of cattle in their respective states.
It was part of the 12 resolutions reached by the governors at their Tuesday meeting.
The governors had said that open grazing of cattle often caused conflicts between host communities and migrant herders, leading to several deaths and murders in several states.
They also accused some of the herders of committing other criminal acts, including robbery, kidnapping and rape.
“We are now at the point of making sure that we enforce and implement it and even in doing that I must also share what I see as a challenge to the enforcement of that law.
Cattle herder in open grazing
“The law is in place and we are taking steps to enforce it.
“It has become imperative that we enforce that law strictly because we just noticed that we have big time trouble in our hands.
“We have those that we refer to as criminal herdsmen; they are different from the ordinary herdsmen that we have been living with all these years.
“We now have in our mist bandits that have infiltrated from the rest of West Africa and other parts of Africa and their assignment is to come here rape, kill and kidnap people for money.
“It is now very imperative that we enforce that law,” Ikpeazu added.