Enugu Assembly Passes Anti-Open Grazing Bill

Enugu State House of Assembly has passed bill for a law to ban open-grazing and regulate activities of cattle ranching in the state.

Prior to passage of the Bill on Thursday, the House had conducted a public hearing on Tuesday to ascertain the opinions of stakeholders who reportedly applauded it.

Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi, noted that the bill was not targeted on any group or individuals, but to create sustainable peace and ensure security of people in the State.

He said, “This law is for everybody it is not targeted at anybody. It is for the good of everybody residing in Enugu and it is timely and will become law once His Excellency assents to it, hopefully before the week runs out.”

Passage of the Bill was in response to the August deadline set by Southern Governors forum during a meeting held in July in Lagos State.

The governors under the forum, had during a Meeting in Asaba in May, announced a ban on open grazing in all the 17 Southern states.

The forum had explained that reason for the open grazing ban was that, “development and population growth has put pressure on available land and increased the prospects of conflict between migrating herders and local populations in the South. Given this scenario, it becomes imperative to enforce the ban on open grazing in the South, including cattle movement to the South by foot.”