Jigawa to check farmers, herdsmen clashes

FILE PHOTO: A herdsman in Nigeria

The Jigawa Government is to set up a taskforce, known as Grazing Reserve Rangers, to check the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the state.

Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, the Deputy Governor of the state, who is also the Chairman of the state’s Farmers/Herdsmen Conflict Resolution Committee, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Tuesday.

Hassan explained that the government had been empowered by the state’s farmers/herdsmen’s law to establish the task force to guard grazing reserves.

He said the rangers would restrict herdsmen to using cattle routes and the places designated for grazing.

According to him, the State Government will train the task force members on how to perform their jobs and ensure that they are given necessary logistics.

The deputy governor also disclosed that the government had started discussing with Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to help in the training the task force members.

“We are made to understand that NSCDC has a similar special unit with a task to tackle cattle rustling in the state.

“Our task force may work in a joint patrol with NSCDC to tackle the perennial conflicts between herdsmen and farmers.”

Hassan pointed out that the enabling law of the task force had given the body more powers than the police to arrest.

He noted that the task force could arrest without a warrant of arrest, unlike the police.

The deputy governor said that the taskforce had been mandated to catch cows grazing at night or destroying farmlands.

According to him, the taskforce has also been empowered by law to obtain court orders to catch and sell cows grazing at night or destroying farmlands to compensate owners of the farms.

Hassan said that 70 per cent of problems between farmers and herdsmen would have been solved when the task force commenced operations.