Inspector-general of police blames anti-grazing laws for herdsmen violence in Benue and Taraba

NIGERIA'S inspector-general of police Ibrahim Idris has identified the controversial anti-open grazing laws in Benue and Taraba states as the source of the unending crisis involving Fulani cattle herdsmen over recent months.

For several years now, Nigeria has faced a grave security crisis as heavily-armed Fulani cattle herdsmen have clashed with local farmers over grazing rights. Because the livestock destroy crops, this has led to incessant clashes and in response, the Taraba and Benue state governments have introduced anti-grazing bills that restrict livestock herding to certain designated areas.

In response to the new laws, the herdsmen have resorted to attacking rural villages, killing dozens, in a recent bloody orgy of violence. Reporting before the Senate Joint Committee on Police Affairs and National Intelligence, yesterday, Mr Idris said that the enactment of the laws and their opposition of herdsmen to their passing was responsible for the problem in the states.

Mr Idris appeared before the joint committee in camera following the directive of the Senate in plenary that he should be summoned to explain why he failed to comply with the mandate of the upper chamber to apprehend perpetrators of the January 1 killings in Benue state. Herdsmen suspected to be Fulani swooped on two Benue communities on New Year's Day and killed not less than 73 persons.

One source close to the committee, however, said that Mr Idris was categorical that the anti-open grazing laws in Benue and Taraba states should be blamed for the continuing killings in the states. However, he told the committee that a number of arrests have been made, with over 120 people taken into custody.