BY AHMED AKANBI
A 2027 Benue State House of Assembly hopeful on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bemgba Iortyom, has called on the Federal Government not to invest public funds in establishing ranches for herders.
Iortyom, a former PDP State Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement on Saturday while reacting to FG’s plan to select Benue among five pilot states for ranching as a solution to farmers-herders’ clashes.
He advised the Federal Government to instead encourage livestock owners to legally acquire land and establish ranches with their own resources, just as crop farmers and other private business owners do.
“As livestock farming is a legitimate private business, those who engage in it must shoulder the burden of acquiring land lawfully and ranch their animals,” he said.
The PDP chieftain faulted the policy for focusing only on herders while ignoring farmers who have suffered attacks.
“Shouldn’t compensation for the decades of destruction of lives and property of farmers by the herdsmen be a top item on the agenda?
”Where at the negotiating table are the representatives of farmers’ communities that have suffered attacks, destruction and displacement? Where are the traditional institutions and landowners whose ancestral land is targeted?” he asked.
Iortyom recalled that a similar proposal was made under the late Muhammadu Buhari administration between 2015 and 2023, but was rejected by Benue people.
He warned that the state would reject any policy that does not address justice, compensation, and inclusion of affected communities.