Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore is a splinter group of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).
He said the plot had been reported to President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the President is not opposed to request for the arrest of the leaders – Abdulahi Bello Bedejo and Saleh Al-Hassan – following his submission.
According to Ortom, security agencies have been placed on the alert for their arrest. Ortom, who spoke at a briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the state lost N95 billion worth of goods and property in herdsmen crises.
He reiterated that there is no going back on the anti-open grazing law, which takes off next month.
While MACBAN supported the law, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leaders are against it, Ortom said.
His words: “We passed the law with the support of all stakeholders, including Miyetti Allah, following adequate advocacy where gains of the law was explicitly explained.
“Section 20 says those involved in cattle rustling should be adequately punished. So, cattle and livestock owners are protected. Section 19 protect farmers, stipulating stiff punishment for those engaging open grazing.
“The law provides for provision of land for ranching, which is renewable after a year. After the interface, Miyetti’s leadership accepted the law as friendly and promised to obey it.
“The effect of this is that both farmers and herdsmen would begin to live normal lives, in their homes, and exposed to formal education.
“The multiplier effect of ranching will also be an added value, whereby cattle wastes, such as rice straw, soya bean straws and cow dung, will be used to process feeds and other things.
“We are committed to implementing this law because Benue has no land for open grazing, all lands are cultivated and waiting for harvest.”
Ortom said the state lost N95 billion worth of goods and property to the farmer/herdmen crisis.
He said: “This implementation of the law becomes more imperative because between 2012 and 2016, more than N95 billion worth of goods and property were lost to the crises arising from herdsmen attacks. Even the herdsmen were equally affected, with their cattle killed or stolen, but the law will restore all these. We don’t want to go through that road again, and that is why Abdulahi Bello Badejo and Saleh Al -Hassan of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore should be arrested for threatening to cause havoc in Benue.
“ I called for their arrest because we have not committed any crime with the law; it went through legislative due process and returned to us for assent. It is our state, and all stakeholders accepted that it should be enforced. If anyone is not ready for ranching, they can leave the state. We are ready and willing to provide security and other logistics for their movement, but to threaten us is unacceptable.
“We are law-abiding, but they should be reminded that no one has a monopoly of violence. That splinter group has no right to intimidate my people. I am determined to go all the way, they have been reported to the President and we will not shy away from applying our law.”
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