Ondo Gives Update On Quit Notice Order To Herdsmen

The Ondo State government has said Fulani herdsmen have begun leaving the forest reserves in the state following the vacation order issued to them.

Recall that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and other stakeholders had backed the vacation order issued to the herdsmen by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

Akeredolu had ordered a ban on night grazing, under-age grazing, movement of cattle along the highway and within the cities and from the forest reserves.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Jimoh Dojumo, said the herdsmen had been moving out of the forest reserves in compliance with the governor’s order.

He said the government was waiting for the herdsmen to register, adding that many herders had indicated interest in the exercise.

He said, “We have just started, I am sure they would come. The herders don’t have any alternative but to register and anyone who fails to register will not be allowed to operate in the state. The registration has to be total.”

Meanwhile, Fulani herdsmen in Ekiti State have been accused of damaging farm products worth about N6.6m belonging to a farmer’s association in the state.

Reports reaching Naija News alleged that the herders grazed on 235 hectares of land belonging to the Maize Growers Processing Marketer Association of Nigeria in the state, leaving the farmland desolated.

It was gathered that the herders fed their animals with all maize planted on the farmland located at the state forest reserve in Aduloju farmstead, along Ado-Ijan road in Ado local government area.

Confirming the development, the state secretary of the association, Tope Emmanuel, accused the herders terrorizing farmers in the community.

Emmanuel alleged that the herders raided the farmland at night with dangerous weapons to feed their cows. All efforts by the farmers to stop them, however, proof abortive as a result of the deadly weapons with the herders.

Members of the MAGPAMAN were said to have obtained about N6.6m loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the anchor borrowers’ programme in September 2020 to plant the maize.