Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Friday urged people living in border communities in the state to provide useful and timely information to government and security agencies to enable them prevent the influx of nomadic herders and cattle into the state.
Ortom made the call today at Tse-Kyogen, a community near the border between Benue and Nasarawa states and reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to ensuring that open grazing of animals no longer has a place in the state.
The Governor who had alighted after sighting a herd of cattle on the Benue side of the border, ordered security men to apprehend the law breakers.
The Governor said security had been reinforced, stressing that anyone who violates the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of the state would be arrested for prosecution and his animals impounded.
He stated that prompt information to security operatives and livestock guards would enhance surveillance in areas where those who deliberately want to violate the law operate.
Ortom ordered that anyone who wished to breed livestock in Benue must do so according to the law.
Recall that Ortom and other Governors of Central Nigerian states had met in Lafia, Nasarawa State to brainstorm on the need for intensive community policing.
The meeting also deliberated on curbing conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in parts of the Central Nigeria region.
