Benue Rising

Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law: Consigned to the Archives

The Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017 was a brainchild of an organic civil movement -- Movement Against Fulani Occupation (MAFO).

The then Governor of Benue State, Dr Samuel Ortom, resisted the law and refused to implement it because he was of the APC.

But as soon as he decamped to the PDP, he embraced it and it became the pillar of his administration as far as the infamous farmer/herder conflict is concerned.

Sadly, the administration of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has decimated the law, rendering it ineffective.

The law categorically states that open grazing can be stopped by Livestock Guards.

Yet, the Reverend Gentleman tactically merged the Livestock Guards with other vigilante groups under the Benue State Civil Protection Corps, a group not recognized by the Anti-Open Grazing Law!

To actually make the law work, two things must happen:

1. Revive the expunged Livestock Guards and review the law, taking into account shortcomings that made it problematic.

2. Amend the law and recognize the Benue State Civil Protection Corps as the new implementation wing.

Until the above is done, the law will only exist on paper!

Do You Know that the Tiv Once Stood Against Colonial Oppression Without Guns?

In the early 1900s, the Tiv people resisted indirect rule -- refusing to accept warrant chiefs imposed by the British.

They organized themselves through clan heads and elders, maintaining communal leadership based on truth and fairness.

What happened to that spirit of unity and resistance?

Today, as our land is under siege, we must remember that our strength is in our identity!