In order to give all herders with cattle in the state two weeks to depart, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has suspended the operations of livestock guards and the state paramilitary organization tasked with enforcing the state’s open grazing laws.
After more than 130 people were brutally murdered across the state in the course of one week, Ortom revealed this at the conclusion of the state security council meeting on Tuesday.
He said that the suspension served as a warning to anyone who claimed to have entered the state unaware of the 2017 Ranches Establishment Law, which is entirely anti-grazing, and the Open Grazing Prohibition.
He also said security agencies in the state have confirmed the receipt of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s directive to fish out perpetrators of the mass killings across the state.
He beseeched the security agencies to act fast on the matter in order to bring victims of the attack some form of justice.
