Anti- Grazing: Benue Auctions Confiscated livestock

The Benue Government has directed its Ministry of Finance to appoint a registered Auctioneer to auction livestock confiscated in violation of the state Anti-Open Grazing Law 2017.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Lawrence Onoja, disclosed this while briefing newsmen after the state Executive Council meeting on Thursday in Makurdi.
Onoja said the livestock was confiscated from some cattle owners in the state who violated the subsisting law against open grazing.
The commissioner said the government also gave the livestock owners up to March 19 to pay stipulated fines to the state Ministry of Agriculture to claim their animals.
He said failure of the owners to do so the livestock would be auctioned as from March 20.
Onoja also disclosed that the council approved the release of N261 million as counterpart fund for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme in the state.
He said the council also approved the constitution of the Debt Management Committee for the state, similar to the Debt Management Office (DMO) at the federal level.
Meanwhile, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has said despite the threat by Miyetti Allah (cattle herders group), the anti-grazing law implementation will commence November 1st.
The governor spoke at the State House, Abuja where he met with the president and demanded the arrest of leaders of Miyetti Allah for vowing to thwart the Benue State anti-open grazing law.
Ortom charged security agencies not to stand by and watch Miyetti Allah members reverse the peace among the people of the state and make it ungovernable.
According to him, the law is not targeted at any particular group but meant to protect both farmers and herdsmen, who he enjoined to take up offers of land for ranching.
He has also said the state can no longer continue with a monthly wage bill of N7.8 billion and has begun process of reducing it to an average of N4.5 billion.