Ekiti Assembly Recommends 6 Months Jail term for Herdsmen

Ekiti Assembly Recommends 6 Months Jail term for Herdsmen

In its bid to tackle the lingering crisis between herdsmen and farmers, the Ekiti State House of Assembly on Thursday prescribed six months jail term for any herdsmen who allow his cattle, sheep and goat to graze on undesignated land for ranches in the state.

The bill was unanimously passed at the plenary sitting of the Assembly, where the Speaker of the House, Mr Kola Oluwawole, said the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen will soon be a thing of the past, Vanguard writes.

“If the bill is eventually accented to by the governor, it will now become [a] crime for any cattle, sheep and goat to graze on undesignated land for ranches in Ekiti,” he said.

According to the new bill tagged, “Prohibition of Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing in Ekiti, 2016″, anyone found guilty upon conviction shall be sentenced to six months in prison without an option of fine.

The bill added that “The Governor shall by an order designate land in each of 16 Local Government Areas in the state in respect of which Cattle or Ruminants may be permitted to graze.”

The bill also forbids movement of cattle by herdsmen and owners of goat in the Ekiti after 6 p.m.

“No cattle or other ruminants shall by any means move in the night, movement shall be between 7 a.m and 6p.m”.

The Assembly also observed a minute silence for the four World Bank officials who lost their lives in a boat mishap at Egbe Dam in Gbonyin Local Government Area of the state.