The Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri, assented to a law banning open grazing of livestock in the state.
According to Channels TV, the livestock breeding, rearing, and marketing regulation law 2021 were assented to on Wednesday, March 10, at the executive chamber of the government house in Yenagoa.
Diri said:
“Bayelsa State welcomes all and sundry to eke out a living legitimately. The people of Bayelsa want to have a mutual and harmonious relationship with non-natives and natives. The essence of the law is to avert and forestall any clash between herdsmen, farmers, natives and non-natives as experienced in some states.”
The governor noted that the provision of the law stipulates that any herdsman found with arms, whether licenced or not, should be arrested.
According to Diri, other law further prohibits the movement of cattle on foot from other parts of the country into the state, among others.
He said any person found engaging in open grazing of livestock on foot would be arrested and prosecuted with the livestock impounded.
