From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The inability of the Bayelsa State Anti- Open Grazing Law to regulate the activities of herders has continued to visit untold pains on Bayelsans and other residents of the state. More worrisome is the helplessness of the task force set up to enforce the anti-open-grazing law, which leaves much to be desired.
At the heart of the matter are questions begging for answers. One, why is it that the state government has found it extremely difficult to regulate the activities of herders and prevent them from destroying farmlands? The second question, related to the first one, is who are the actual owners of the cattle that give the herders so much confidence to violate existing laws with impunity? The third question is, what is responsible for the unimpressive performance of the task force committee set up to enforce the anti-grazing law to the extent that farmers have been left at the mercy of unscrupulous herders.
The story of the anti-open grazing law began in 2017, when the then governor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, restricted herders in the state to the Bayelsa Palm area in Yenagoa, the state capital, for their activities. The gesture of the land was to ensure that their activities are restricted to that area and avoid destruction of farmlands, which some of the herders had been accused of.
Though the Dickson administration commenced the process for enacting a law on anti-open grazing, it was Dickson’s successor, Senator Douye Diri, that signed the Livestock Breeding, Rearing and Marketing Regulation Law on March 10, 2021.
Diri followed it up with the Bayelsa Anti- Open Grazing Task Force in April 2021, headed by the commissioner for agriculture with members drawn from the security agencies and the Ijaw Youth Council. However, aside from impounding some cattle in the opening weeks of its operations, the task force has gone into deep slumber.
Expectedly, the inaction of the anti-open grazing task force has forced farmers in the state to threaten to resort to self-defence in the laws following reported cases of alleged murder, rape and wanton destruction of farmlands.
Recent incidents have left Bayelsans and residents of the state with bitter experiences, which should attract strong reactions from the government and security agencies. In March 2025, at Amarata, Yenagoa local government area, a woman was allegedly raped in her farm by suspected herders. At Ogbia, a farmer was hacked to death by suspected herders.
Stories from Sagbama, Ekeremor, and hinterlands in Yenagoa in places like Okordia, Ikibiri, Agudama, Epketiama, Agudama- Epie are not palatable with residents calling on the government to intervene.
In Okutukutu community, Yenagoa local government area, the women could no longer bear the fear of working on their farms because of herders’ attacks that they took to the streets in Yenagoa protesting and calling for government’s intervention.
One of the women, Mrs Giabo Moneyman, said: ‘’I went to my farm and saw herdsmen. I told them to leave, but they ignored me. I repeated my plea, and they still ignored me.
“They uprooted my cassava and gave it to the cows to eat. If you go to my farm now, you will pity me. My farm has been destroyed.’’
Another victim, Mrs Sarah Wilcox, accused herdsmen of invading farms and uprooting cassava for the cows to eat while threatening farmers with attacks if they protested. She called on the state government to curb the activities of the herders before people took laws into their own hands.
‘’The herders behave as if they are above the law. They came into my farm, destroyed it, and threatened to deal with me for daring to protect my farm. The situation is getting out of control, and we, the farmers, can no longer keep quiet.’’
The paramount ruler of Edeipe community, HRH Shadrach Etidie, one of the communities worst hit with destruction of farmlands, lamented that there is more to the unbridled impunity being exhibited by the herdsmen in Bayelsa State. According to him, a personal experience while serving as youth president of the community gave him a glimpse into the enormous powers wielded by herdsmen in Bayelsa State.
‘He said: “For me, our best is not good enough. The menace of herders has been happening over time, and the government is not doing anything about it. During my time as a youth president of the community, when the herdsmen kept coming to destroy our farmlands, we retaliated and mistakenly killed a cow.
‘’To our greatest surprise, the herders went to the police station and petitioned the whole community that we must pay for the cow killed; if not, they will come and invade our community. We were so surprised that they were so powerful to the extent that the police were willing to do their bidding.
‘’So, we concluded that they have a greater force backing them. As a community, we are a peace-loving people who do not like trouble. We were forced to pay for the dead cow, while no action was taken on our destroyed farmlands. Since then, we have been scared to say or do anything, even with our farmlands continually being destroyed. They are in Edepie forest, and we are helpless.’’
Also speaking, the King of the Akaba community, Otavie Sakwe, condemned the attitude of the herdsmen. While noting that the community does not have the intention of banning them, he said their continued destruction of farmlands is unacceptable.
‘’We find the attitude of the herdsmen unbecoming. We cannot ban them from doing cow business, but they must find a way that their cow would not destroy our farms. The government should allocate land for them so that those in the business should be in a confined place and not allow their cows to roam into people’s farms and destroy their businesses.
“In Akaba community, we are at the mercy of herdsmen. The government should allocate a land for them so that our women would have no fear of going to the farm,’’ he said.
Comrade Alagoa Morris, in an interview, said it is high time to stop the practice of allowing cows to roam about. He stated that their action is infringing on the rights of other Nigerians.
‘’As I have said in the past, it is what I am going to repeat. Owners of cows should confine their cows. They should acquire lands from willing people on lease and keep their cows there. “Allowing cows to roam about is unacceptable. It is primitive and, to a large extent, infringes on the rights of others, especially farmers.
“Farmers have their farms destroyed by cows and women are victims of rape. Roaming with cattle is old fashioned and unacceptable. The cattle business is a private business, not a government business.
“People in poultry business operate in a confined environment. People who have piggeries confine their pigs, so owners of cows should confine their cows. They should confine their cows and stop doing as if all the lands in Nigeria belong to herders. It is even worse when they are carrying arms.’’
The paramount ruler of the Igbogene community, Prof Augustine Ekein, while proffering a solution, said the government and security agencies should be proactive by securing the borders. According to him, while the traditional rulers are saddled with the responsibility to enforce the anti-open grazing law in their domains, there is very little they can do other than report the presence of herdsmen.
He, however, noted that the identity of the owners of the cattle should be known so victims can know who to hold responsible for the activities of the herders.
‘’Where are the cattle coming from? These cattle pass specific routes where we have security agencies. I think any vehicle coming into Bayelsa should be identified, and the owners of the cattle should be known.
“Their destination should also be known. There is very little that a traditional journalist can do other than to report. Let us get the solution right from the source. How are we sure some of these cattle are not owned by Bayelsans? We need to identify the owners and where they are coming from.’’
Investigations revealed one of the reasons the task force has been handicapped in its operations was because influential Bayelsans are owners of some of the cattle. This has emboldened the herdsmen to encroach on farmlands with impunity.
Also, when cows are arrested for violating the law, they are released without any fine to the state government or compensation to the victims. Findings indicate that this has demoralised members of the taskforce, and it has gone into comatose.
The prevailing consensus in Bayelsa is that the state government has been reluctant to enforce its laws. The state government has been very vocal about clamping down on violators but foot-dragging in enforcing the law to the letter. This has paved the way for the ongoing impunity of herders in the state.
On April 21, 2023, Diri had personally arrested two herders when he stopped his convoy at Sampou junction, along East/ West Road. He had directed that the arrested herders be prosecuted and further gave security agencies marching orders to clamp down on violators. But since then, nothing has been heard on the matter.
At various times, the state government had met the Okordia, Biseni, Zarama, Yenezue- Epie communities on the need to keep peace while warning herders of the existence of the anti-open grazing law. This intervention by the state government, according to many, is cosmetic because the herdsmen have continued their destruction of farmlands and other heinous crimes without restraint.
At the latest intervention held recently, the state government had summoned an emergency meeting with first class traditional rulers, chairmen of community development committees, youth and women leaders of communities in Sagbama, Ekeremor, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Areas.
The deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who addressed the meeting, declared that the state is in a semi-emergency situation over the herdsmen invasion and directed all local government council chairmen to nominate members into the anti-grazing committee.
“Going forward, paramount rulers of communities that superintend their areas as second- or third-class rulers must monitor and promptly report to government. If you don’t report to us and we come there to find out, you will be our guest through the police. So the responsibility of keeping your domain safe is now laid on your shoulders.”
“Youth presidents should not concern themselves with only issues of development levy. I am a little bit embarrassed that the same Epie-Atissa youths who are always going around and collecting money from anybody who wants to develop their land cannot go to the forest and challenge these herdsmen. That is cowardice, timidity, and primitivity.
‘’This meeting is to remind all that an anti-grazing law exists in this state. And the governor, despite his lenient, simple, and peace-loving disposition, will not allow this Ijaw land to be invaded by any herdsmen.
“No inch of Ijawland has ever been conquered. If our fathers handed over an unconquered land to us, then we have a duty to protect that unconquered territory and also hand it over to our children unconquered,” he declared.
However, Ewhrudjakpo’s comments have been criticised for not addressing the issue of the state government running away from responsibilities to protect lives and property and rather hiding behind lack of action by traditional rulers and youths group expected to perform the duties of government.
Izibeya Ogbemudia of Progressive Youth Epie- Atissa said youths are not empowered to take action against armed herdsmen.
‘‘Our people are really suffering in the hands of these marauding herdsmen, and the last thing we need is an insult from someone who was elected alongside Governor Douye Diri to protect us.
“To the best of our knowledge, the Bayelsa anti-grazing law does not empower youths of Epie-Atissa to confront armed herdsmen encroaching on their lands.
“Therefore, expecting us to engage the said herdsmen is like urging us to attack them or do the work of the police and other relevant security agencies.’’
Izibeya called on Diri not to treat the issue of herdsmen with levity, maintaining that Bayelsans are becoming helpless and may soon resort to self-help if the government fails to act.
“Let the state government tackle this issue head-on with security agencies before we start taking laws into our hands to protect ourselves and the ancestral lands we inherited from our forebears,” he declared.