With two weeks to Anambra November 6 poll, Governor Willie Obiano has assented to a bill to prohibit and abolish open grazing in the State.
Obiano signed the ‘Cattle and Other Livestock Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Bill’ into law on Friday at the Governor’s Lodge in Awka.
The new law provided requirements for establishment of ranches in any part of the state after obtaining a permit with full details of the rancher(s) kept with government authority.
This is just as it mandates every herder to pay N20,000 to obtain a permit for one to fifty livestock, while the fee for livestock above fifty has been pegged at N50,000.
Section 32 of the same law also empowers the livestock committee to arrest anyone engaged in open grazing while Section 24:1 prohibits land grabbing and imposed five years imprisonment and other charges on defaulters.
While reiterating that the law was not targeted at any ethnic nationality, the governor stated that it is aimed at encouraging ranching, establishing cattle and other livestock ranches in the state and to provide for related matters.
Reacting to the development, the South-east zonal chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Gidado Sidikki, appealed to Governor Obiano to launch sensitisation campaigns and trainings on its provisions with a view to empowering herders to adapt.
