Fulani cattle breeders under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore have rejected the anti-open grazing laws passed by some state governments including Benue state. The National President of the association, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo made the position of the group known on Monday in Abuja during a brief chat with newsmen. According to him, though the cattle breeders do not have anything against ranching in the country, the specie of cows they have in the country are not good for ranching.
He said his members would therefore adopt the proposed ranching system if the government replaces their cows with 'ranchable' breeds of cows. Bodejo called on the President to urgently wade into the matter to ensure that these laws are set aside, stressing that in most cases state governments even legislated on areas under the jurisdiction of the federal government especially the River Benue Basin.
According to him “Again, very fundamentally, the River Benue and the tributaries and also the international routes and roads that pass through Benue don’t belong to Benue State Government, they belong to the Federal Government. Benue State Government has no jurisdiction over River Benue, its tributaries, the lakes, the river basins; they are all federal government's. So how do you now start to legislate to say ‘you are going to stop access to those natural resources?’
“Between January and early May, is when pastoralists move to the river basins because that is the peak of dry season and most of the rivers pastoralists use to water their animals dried up and they now move towards the River Benue."
