The Enugu State House of Assembly has passed the Public Ranch Management Agency bill.
The bill, which was passed on Tuesday in Enugu by the lawmakers, authorised the state government to establish an agency to manage both government and privately owned ranches in the state.
Speaking before the passage of the bill, the member representing Igbo-Eze North Constituency II, Clifford Obe, argued that the legislation would end the farmers/herders crisis in the state.
Obe said the farmer/herder crisis was responsible for the low agricultural output in the market.
According to him, many farmers have been driven out of their farms, which has increased crime and rural-to-urban migration.
“The bill will help people not be afraid. It will make it a must for herders to register whenever they enter any community. It will reduce crime and how cattle mess up our city and rural communities because there would be an agency on ground to guide the herders.
“Above all, the state government will be able to collect tax from the herders, who before now did not pay tax,” Obe added.
Also contributing, Okechukwu Aneke, representing Udi South Constituency, noted that there was no need for people to be afraid of the bill, adding that herders were not only Fulanis.
Aneke stressed that herders had come to stay, urging the people to learn to co-exist with them.
The lawmaker reiterated that the bill was intended to control the herders, adding that those invading and attacking communities in the state were not real herders.
“This agency, when established, will have designated areas where the cattle and their herders will be stationed.
“Any herder who is found in our bushes and not in the designated places should be treated as an intruder and a kidnapper,” Aneke said.
Another lawmaker, Mr Chima Obieze, regretted that people condemning the bill are arguing about what they do not know, saying there is nothing on the bill for people to shout about.
Obieze asked the public not to discourage people from other parts of the country from coming to Enugu to do business.
He said that should the mostly nomadic herders come to the state, however, they must operate under existing laws.
Mr Harrison Ogara, representing Igbo-Eze South, noted that the bill would guarantee peace between farmers and herders and asked the executive arm of government to be strategic in its implementation.
In his remark, the Speaker, Chief Uche Ugwu, assured the people of the state that the Assembly would not pass a bill capable of truncating peace in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a similar bill on “Open Grazing Prohibition” was passed by the last state assembly in 2021.
The passage came in line with the deadline issued by the Southern Governors for an end to the open rearing of cattle.
The bill sought to “prevent the destruction of farms, farm crops, community ponds, settlements and property by open rearing and grazing of livestock.
Premium Times‘ Chinagorom Ugwu reports that the past week was eventful in Nigeria’s south-east, where both shocking and sad events made headlines.
Below is her report.
The attack and killing of four residents in Uzo-Uwani, Enugu State was among the top stories within the past week in the South-east.
The massacre of about 11 people, including a pregnant woman, in Ebonyi State was another top story in the week.
Here are the highlights of the top stories that made headlines in the region within the past week:
Many killed as suspected herders invade Enugu community
The week began on a sad note on Sunday 28 April when at least four people were killed by suspected herders who invaded Nimbo, a community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The hoodlums, on arrival in the community, opened fire on some residents who were mourning a deceased person in Ugwuijoro, a village in the Nimbo Community. The victim died instantly.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State would later visit the community and assure the residents that his administration would end herders’ attacks in the area.
Mr Mbah equally announced a scholarship programme for children of those killed in the attack.
On their part, the police in Enugu State told the residents that they have ordered the deployment of police operatives to track down the killers.
The police said the operation would continue until their aim was achieved.
The latest incident highlights the urgent need for the Nigerian government to revisit the issues around anti-open grazing to solve the frequent friction between farming communities and nomadic herders in the country.
17 travellers killed in Enugu road crash
It was a tragic day last Tuesday when occupants of a Toyota Hummer Bus were burnt beyond recognition in a road accident.
The incident happened when the bus burst into flames after plunging into a fence along Enugu/Opi/Nsukka Road in Ekwegbe in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Sixteen occupants of the vehicle were initially confirmed dead after the incident, according to a statement by a police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, on Tuesday night.
Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said two passengers of the vehicle were rescued and being treated at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu.
But the Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Adeyemi Sokunbi, later confirmed that one of the hospitalised victims had died, bringing the death toll to 17.
Uzodinma appoints self as land commissioner, gives reason
Many Nigerians were shocked on Tuesday when Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State announced that he had appointed himself as the commissioner for lands, survey and physical planning in the state.
Mr Uzodinma explained that the decision to appoint himself to the position was because of the need to “restore the confidence” of the residents in the lands ministry in the state.
Ebonyi governor makes case for state police
The debate on the need for Nigeria to adopt state police continued last Wednesday with Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State outlining the reason the country should give the idea a trial.
Mr Nwifuru, while speaking on the need for state police, said Nigeria has grown to the extent that central policing will not make the desired impact in fighting insecurity.
“The country has grown so large to an extent that central policing will not control crime. State policing will allow us to use people familiar with our terrain to combat crimes in our various communities,” he said.
A bill which seeks to create state police is before the National Assembly.
In the last assembly, the bill was rejected by the lawmakers, who believed that state governors might abuse the state police if created.
But in the face of rising insecurity across the country and renewed calls from various groups, the bill appears to be receiving attention from lawmakers.
Security agencies kill suspected IPOB bomb expert – Official
Nigerian security agencies, last Friday, announced that they had killed a suspected bomb expert of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN) in Nigeria’s South-east.
The suspect was killed on Wednesday during a clearance operation by the security agencies at Orsu-Ihitteukwa, a community in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State, according to a statement by the spokesperson of the Nigerian army, Onyema Nwachukwu.
The army spokesperson said the security agencies intercepted the suspected IPOB/ESN members during the operation in the area.
Crackdown on suspected cultists in Anambra
The police in Anambra State, last Saturday, announced that they have arrested seven suspected cultists.
The arrested suspects were between the ages of 17 and 18.
The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, said the suspects were arrested on Friday when some police operatives from the Special Anti-Cult Squad intercepted them along UNIZIK Junction in Awka, the state capital.
The latest development highlights how young people have taken to cultism in the state.
There has been an upsurge in cult-related attacks and killings lately in Awka.
Last Monday, Henry Mbachu, representing Awka South I in the Anambra House of Assembly, said that from Easter Sunday till date, 34 persons had been gunned down in Awka and its environs alone due to activities of cultists.
Mr Mbachu, a Labour Party lawmaker, said the situation is worrisome and hinted that he plans to hold a security summit within his constituency on 29 May.
One dead as security operatives raid Enugu community
It was another sad day on Saturday in the Igga Community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu state where a combined security team comprising personnel of the Nigerian army and Nigeria Police Force allegedly invaded, and razed houses and other properties.
Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that the combined security operatives invaded the community at about 10 p.m. and only left around 1 a.m. on Sunday.
One resident, identified as Richard Okoye, who was about 70 years old, died during the invasion.
It was not immediately clear why the combined security operatives carried out the operation in the area.
Both police and army spokespersons had initially refused to speak on the incident when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday evening.
However, the police in Enugu State would later suggest that the operation was carried out as part of the efforts to track down suspects who allegedly attacked and killed two police operatives and three members of a Neighborhood Watch Group in the community on Friday.
Daniel Ndukwe, the police spokesperson in the state, in a statement on Sunday night, claimed the slain operatives were among a joint security team providing security for a group of visiting investors from Lagos State on a tour of a proposed agricultural investment site in the area when they were ambushed and killed.
Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, quoted the Commissioner of Police in the state, Kanayo Uzuegbu, as asking those accusing the joint security team of burning houses in the community and looting shops to “desist forthwith.”
However, the police commissioner did not deny or confirm the allegations against the security operatives.
Meanwhile, a leader in the community, Festus Okonkwo, told PREMIUM TIMES that some gunmen, suspected to be members of the Eastern Security Network, the militant wing of the IPOB, attacked the security operatives.
