Bemgba Iortyom, the Peoples Democratic Party 2027 Benue State House of Assembly candidate, has urged the Federal Government not to take on the burden of establishing ranches for herders.

Iortyom, a former PDP State Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement issued on Saturday in Makurdi.

He was reacting to FG’s plan to select Benue among 5 states for a pilot ranching scheme as a solution to farmers-herders’ clashes.

“As livestock farming is a legitimate private business, those who engage in it must shoulder the burden of acquiring land lawfully and ranch their animals, just as crop farmers and other private entrepreneurs bear the burden of acquiring land and the facilities required for their businesses,” the statement read.

Iortyom questioned why the proposed solution focused only on herders if the issue was truly a “farmer-herder conflict.”

“Shouldn’t compensation for the decades of destruction of lives and property of farmers by the herdsmen be a top item on the agenda of the proposed government policy?
Where at the negotiating table are the representatives of farmers’ communities that have suffered attacks, destruction and displacement?
Where are the traditional institutions and landowners whose ancestral land is targeted to be affected?” he asked.

The House of Assembly hopeful recalled that the Buhari administration, 2015-2023, had proposed similar policies including grazing routes, cattle colonies, RUGA settlements, and the National Livestock Transformation Plan, all of which were rejected by Benue people.

“Benue people rejected all of those policies which sought to place the burden of resolving the crisis on their shoulders, despite the fact that they were the ones being killed, displaced and dispossessed,” he said.

Iortyom added that if the Federal Government wants to modernize livestock production, it should encourage livestock owners to establish ranches on land lawfully acquired, rather than annex ancestral land belonging to farming communities.

SOURCE: Punch News.