The Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to regulate public grazing in the state.
The bill titled, “Prohibition of cattle and other ruminants grazing in Ekiti, 2016,” was passed after the Chairman, Joint Committee on Agriculture and Environment, Mr. Ayodele Fajemilehin, submitted the report of the committee on the floor of the House.
According to the bill, anyone found violating the bill shall be sentenced to six months in prison without an option of fine.
It says, “The Governor shall by an order designate land in each of the 16 Local Government Areas in the state in respect of which cattle or ruminants may be permitted to graze.
“No person shall cause or permit cows, oxen, sheep as well as goats under his or her control to graze on any land in which the Governor has not designated as ranches.”
“If the bill is eventually accented to by the governor, it will become a crime for cattle, sheep and goats to graze on undesignated lands in Ekiti.
“No cattle or other ruminants shall by any means move in the night, movement shall be between 7am and 6pm.”
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Kola Oluwawole, who presided over the plenary, on Thursday, said the bill would reduce the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the state.
He said, “It will promote a kind of cordial relationship between the cattle rearers and the people of the state, particularly the farmers. It will also put paid to Fulani herdsmen carrying arms and ammunition in the state and stop the development that has prevented our people from sleeping with their two eyes closed.”
