NAN-AE-3
Encroachment
Dutse, Nov. 24, 2016 (NAN) The Jigawa Farmers-Herdsmen Conflict Resolution Board said it recorded 387 encroachment cases from
the beginning of this year’s farming season to date.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr Rabi’u Miko, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Dutse.
He said “from the beginning of this year’s rainy season, we recorded 378 encroachment cases and complaints across the 27 local government areas
of the state.”
Ibrahim said the Board usually receives complaints at the beginning and at the end of the rainy season annually.
He explained the cases received were mainly those of grazing reserves and cattle routes encroachment by farmers.
He added that some of the cases were reported by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), while others were reported by individuals.
The executive secretary pointed out that some farmers in the state were in the habit of encroaching into cattle routes and grazing reserves close to their farms.
He noted that the act usually causes conflict between farmers and herdsmen in the state.
He, however, said most of the cases were resolved by the board’s technical team, representatives of MACBAN, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), farmers-herdsmen committees and village heads of the affected communities.
According to him, there are 452 areas identified by the Board as grazing reserves across the 27 local government areas of the state.
He said that the Board had deployed its guards to oversee the reserves and cattle routes, and report any illegal activities to the
director, reserves management.
He, therefore, urged the two parties to live in peace as they could not do without one another.
According to him, farmers-herdsmen conflicts and clashes has reduced drastically in the state compared with previous years.
This, he said, followed several proactive measures put in place by the Board to address the menace.
The executive secretary noted that some of the measures taken by the Board included the provision of watering points for cattle rearers, demarcation of grazing reserves and planting grasses on several grazing reserves across the state. (NAN)
MNB/HA
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Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu