The Benue State Security Council has given a two-week ultimatum to people operating open grazing within the state to comply with the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Law (2017).

Tersoo Kula, the chief press secretary to the state government, who read the communique after the meeting on Wednesday in Makurdi, said the law was still in force.

The Benue government enacted the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law in 2017 to prevent clashes between nomadic livestock herders and crop farmers.

The law was also passed to prevent the destruction of crop farms, environmental degradation, and the spread of diseases caused by open rearing and grazing of livestock.

Mr Kula said the council also resolved that armed herders/invaders should immediately leave the state and return to where they came from, warning those who allegedly invited them to desist from the act.

According to him, the council has also constituted a seven-man committee to enforce the ultimatum, which begins on Wednesday, February 21.

Mr Kula said, “The State Security Council urges Benue people to remain calm and security conscious as the state government was making efforts to secure the lives and property of the people of the state.

“It also tasks security agencies, traditional rulers and the general public to report for persecution any person who was in the habit of collaborating and inviting the armed herders into the state.

“On the hardship and food insecurity across the nation, the council urges the people to remain calm as efforts are being put in place by the government to address the challenge. 

(NAN)