Herders to register cattle with N20, 000 in Anambra

Barely two weeks to Anambra state November 6 poll, Governor Willie Obiano has signed into law a bill to prohibit and abolish open and nomadic cattle and other livestock grazing and rearing in the state.

Obiano, while signing the bill into law in Awka, on Friday, stated that the law was not targeted at any ethnic nationality, but aimed at encouraging ranching, establishing cattle and other livestock ranches in the state and to provide for related matters.

Blueprint reports that the law provided requirements for establishment of ranches in any part of the state after obtaining a permit with full details of the rancher(s) kept with government authority in charge and would be registered before operation.

Also, it provided that for someone to register livestock and obtain a permit, such a person would pay N20,000 for one to fifty livestock, while the fee for livestock above fifty would be N50,000.

The Section 32 of the law empowers the livestock committee to arrest anyone engaged in open grazing, Section 24:1 prohibited land grabbing and imposed five years imprisonment and other charges on would be offender.

Reacting, the South-east zonal chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Gidado Sidikki, appealed to the state governments that had enacted the law to launch sensitisation campaigns and trainings on its provisions with a view to empowering herders to adapt.