In the last five years, no fewer than 2,800 lives were lost to herder-farmers? conflicts arising from open grazing of cattle and livestock, according to reported incidents in 2025 and Nextier?s tally of deaths between 2020 and 2024, even as the anti-open grazing laws enacted by 19 states could not be enforced.

Nextier?s Violent Conflict Database showed that between 2020 and 2024, there were 359 herders-farmers? incidents in Nigeria of which 2,349 persons were killed. In 2024 alone, there were 61 incidents with 467 casualties.

Saturday Vanguard?s tally of reported incidents in less than eight months of 2025 showed that no fewer than 451 lives had been wasted so far. Benue State had no fewer than 254 of the deaths, Plateau had 121 and Nasarawa had 20. Others include: Ondo 25, Ebonyi 16, Enugu 4, Edo 3, Taraba 3, Delta 2 and Imo 1. These figures are conservative because many incidents are not reported or under-reported.

According to reports, from 2019 to early 2025, a staggering number of people, estimated at 2.2 million, got displaced in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa because of herders-farmers? clashes and no fewer than 500 people died.

17 Southern states enact laws

Piqued by the unceasing deaths, kidnappings and other atrocities arising from the conflicts especially by armed herdsmen, the 17 Southern governors in May 2021 banned open grazing in the region. This made 11 states in the South that were yet to do so to enact laws against open grazing of cattle between July 2021 to May 2022. Now, all the 17 Southern states have laws against open grazing. Only two of the 19 northern states-Benue and Taraba have anti-open grazing laws. In spite of the laws, little or nothing has been done to curb open grazing and the attendant problems.

States with anti-open grazing laws: Imo (2007, Jan 7); Ekiti (2016, Aug, Amended 2025); Benue (2017, May 22); Taraba (2017, July 24); Abia (2018, June); Ebonyi (2018); Oyo (2019, Oct); Bayelsa (2021, March 10); Ogun (2021, July 8); Ondo (2021, Aug); Rivers (2021, Aug 19); Enugu (2021, Sept 14); Akwa Ibom (2021, Sept 15); Osun (2021, Sept 15); Lagos (2021, Sept 20); Delta (2021, Sept 30); Anambra (2021, Oct 22); Cross River (2022, March 21); Edo (2022, May 27).

Alhaji Bello Aliyu Gotomo, the National Secretary-General of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, in an interview with Vanguard, penultimate Friday, said members of the association control 95 percent of livestock production in the country, and know the benefits of ranching. However, he said they cannot stop open grazing of cattle overnight because of funds and cultural practices among others in spite of laws in some states against it.

His words: ?Some states have established anti-open grazing laws but it did not work. Pastoralism is a way of life, and tradition and culture are attached to it, so there is no way it can be discarded overnight. It?s going to be done over a period of time. We cannot adopt ranches easily because ranching is a capital intensive activity. It?s just like asking local farmers to throw away their cutlasses and hoes and convert to mechanized farming, it?s not possible overnight.

So, we agreed that our people have to be motivated to embrace the modern means of livestock production. We are also aware that the population of the country has increased from 1960 to date, from 56 million to over 200 million people and a lot of infrastructural developments have evolved and overtaken fallow lands, grazing and forest reserves, but nevertheless we cannot just turn to ranching because it?s difficult and capital intensive. But we agree to adopt overtime the new methodologies of live production.

?We also want to control movements because if movements are controlled, the animals will be fatter, produce more milk and our people will go to school. We are conversant with that and we are doing a lot to ensure that those that are not interested in seeing livestock farmers, should know that livestock farmers are Nigerians and that they have rights. If you can have an aeroplane manufactured abroad and you give it land to fly, why don?t you give indigenous livestock? This is an old age business, there is nowhere in Nigeria that you don?t use it, and it?s a huge resource for the country.?

The stance of Gotomo is raising dust in the polity with stakeholders kicking and asking governments at various levels to implement the laws and do the needful to provide security in the country.

Why anti-open grazing laws are not working in states

The refusal of the Federal Government to recognize the anti-open grazing laws enacted by various state governments and direct the Nigerian Police Force, NPF to ensure compliance is affecting the execution.

On some major highways in Lagos and many cities in Nigeria it is not uncommon to see cattle feeding on refuse or grazing and many times constituting nuisance and causing gridlock.

Top police officers confided in Saturday Vanguard that the Inspector General of Police, IGP, in the absence of a clear directive from the presidency, cannot order the Commissioners of Police to implement a law, even if it has been passed by the State House of Assembly and signed by the governor.

A police commissioner, who spoke anonymously said: ?There is no law restricting the movement of Nigerians from one state to another, either to live or do business, so we cannot stop or arrest herders because some people allege that they move their cows from one place to another.? At a time in Delta State, security agents arrested some members of the Delta State Livestock Management Committee, who attempted to apprehend some herders for violating the Delta State Livestock Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing Law, 2021, otherwise known as the anti-grazing law.

Some herders were arrested for leading their cows to graze openly and destroying the crops of farmers in the Ndokwa area of the state. They were handed over to the police in accordance with the provisions of the anti-open grazing law for possible dialogue and payment of compensation to the affected farmers. But senior police officers intervened from outside the state, saying there was no law restricting the movement of any Nigerian. The police intimidated the officials for daring to enforce the law, and since then, they have remained careful about arresting herders who breach the law.

Beyond the federal government?s consent, the regular police officer is not trained and equipped to engage the herders, some of whom are armed with AK-47 rifles and other sophisticated weapons, in the bush. So, they are scared to embark on such an operation.

The herders also work for some powerful Nigerians, both in the government and security forces, who are the actual owners of the cows. They exert their influence to thwart the implementation of the anti-open grazing law in the different states.

As the chief security officers in their local government areas, council chairmen are expected to ensure that the Delta State Livestock Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing Law 2021 ? also referred to as the anti-open grazing law ? is enforced in their communities. In their respective areas, they are supposed to work in tandem with the Divisional Police Officers, DPOs, and other security agencies.

Speaker Emomotimi Guwor of the Delta State House of Assembly, in an interview with Saturday Vanguard, noted that the security agents had not, in reality, enforced the law in the state, adding that the matter was raised at the State Security Council meeting.

His words: ?The truth is that the Delta State Livestock Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing Law 2021 was actually passed and assented to by the governor. The law is being breached by herders who, by the passage of that law, need not carry out open grazing. They are not supposed to be grazing in the open field; they (cattle) are expected to be kept in confined places set up as ranches, but today, they are not doing that.

?For the fact that the cattle rearers are breaching the law, the Delta State House of Assembly?s Committee on Compliance, headed by the Deputy Speaker, has engaged local government chairmen who are task force chairman at the local government level in implementing that law. The challenge that some of the local government chairmen face is a security challenge in terms of the police and other security agents that are supposed to give them the needed support.

Sometimes, they feel that they do not get adequate coverage from security agents to implement the law. In terms of implementing the anti-open grazing law, the local government chairmen complain that they face the challenge of security personnel not giving them the needed cooperation to make sure that herders don?t take their cattle about. So, they face that challenge of cooperation from security personnel.

?At the Delta State House of Assembly, we are making concerted efforts to make sure that the law is implemented without breach. In an enlarged State Security Council meeting, it was reported by the House of Assembly that there is a need for local government chairmen to implement the law at the local government level. It was agreed in that meeting that security agents should give the needed support to the local government chairmen in implementing the law.

?Why Govt won?t build ranches for herders?

It is not expected that the government needs to build ranches. Ranching is a private business, and if you want to go into cattle rearing, you are expected to set up your ranch. Once you don?t set up ranches, there is no need to rear cattle on the streets and take them to people?s farms because the primary objective of the law is to curb open grazing and reduce clashes between herders and farmers.

In a situation where cattle rearers take their cows to the farms of other people, there is the likelihood of clashes. Another objective of the law is to ensure food security and avert the criminality associated with herders? activities. Today, the law is being breached as a result of the fact that those who are into cattle rearing are not observing the law. Rather, they are going about taking their cattle everywhere.

Govt needs political will to tackle challenge ? Justice Emiaso

Retired President of the Delta State Area Customary Court, Justice Miakpor Emiaso, said some undercurrents affect the anti-open grazing law, and ?that is why governments in the South and Middle Belt (states), even though they enacted anti-open grazing laws, are unable to enforce them. It is because they don?t want to affect the sensibilities of the powerful northerners.?

He emphasized the need for the government to muster the political will to enforce the law against open grazing, pointing out that the violent groups that infiltrate communities? forests by hiding under cattle grazing pose a threat to their safety.

Mr. Chidi Uwabuofu, an indigene of Obiaruku community, Ukwuani Local Government Area, noted: ?Everywhere I go in Delta State, I see cows and herders roaming freely in our towns, despite the passage of the anti-open grazing bill into law.

It appears that the law only exists on paper as our government seems to be turning a blind eye to the issue. Law enforcement agencies such as the Police also seem to be selective in enforcing the law as if some regulations are meant to be obeyed while others are not. Our government needs to take this issue seriously; these cattle are littering our towns and damaging our farms. The impact on our crops has far-reaching implications for the state and country?s economy. It is imperative that our leaders take concrete actions to enforce the law and find sustainable solutions to this problem.?

Herders are a law unto themselves in Edo ? Usiegbu

In Edo State, Saturday Vanguard gathered that one of the reasons for the non-enforcement of the anti-open grazing law was that many retired senior security chiefs and landowners are co-owners of the cattle and rams. They hired some herdsmen as their workers to care for the animals, and criminals infiltrate the herders? ranks in the bush to commit atrocities.

The Edo State Chapter Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Comrade Jay Usiegbu, who expressed the frustration of farmers, said: ?The anti-Open grazing law is not being enforced in the state. There have been challenges from the point of implementation. For instance, in the enforcement, you have the cattle breeders represented, you have the Arewa Community represented, and you have the butchers? association represented, and all these people are beneficiaries of the illegal activities of these people.

You can imagine that I am the chairman of the AFAN but I am not there. A representative of my association, as a stakeholder, should be among them. The law is there but it is not being enforced. Another problem is that the villagers are constituting a challenge to us. I discovered something about the Fulani: they don?t just come to your farm and forest. They get access. In places where you don?t have traditional heads like the Enogie (duke) in Edo South, they use the youths, who will coerce the elders or those in charge, and give them money out of whatever they must have collected.

?Then, the elders will now caution the Fulani, ?You must not exceed particular portions,? but most of the time, it is not practicable, so they see them uproot your cassava, fruits, and others. I personally lost over N4 million to them at a point on my watermelon farm. I took them to the Department of State Services, DSS; they said they were ready to compensate, and thereafter offered N500,000, which I refused to accept for a farm I spent over N3 million on, but I couldn?t even get anything.

?Most of them don?t live in Edo State; they live in Kogi State and just bring their cows into our state and create problems for farmers, and later, they will start earning extra money by kidnapping.

?We have been having kidnappings in Uhunmwonde, around the Ugo axis. There had been kidnappings up until late last year, and many farmers could not access their farms. They were so audacious that they asked farmers to bring N50 million before they could harvest their yams. It was so bad.?

In Oyo, the Chairperson of the Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement Authority, (OYRLEA), Justice Aderonke Aderemi, retd, said the government has been working hard towards ensuring that local communities adhere to the established regulations regarding cattle management, and has also curbed open grazing in many instances in the state.

In an interview, she told Saturday Vanguard that the Authority has put in place tribunals, which are strategically positioned to prosecute those apprehended, adding that offences attract jail terms and option of fines for offenders.

?We were able to settle the farmers-herders? crisis at Ido. People wrote petitions to us and we dealt with the issue.

?This is how we address farmers-herders? issue; when the farmers report to us, what we do is to go there to investigate. We know when the herders would come out with their cows. The law says you must bring evidence. Isn?t that so? So what we do is that even if it is as early as 5 a.m., we will go there waiting with the Enforcement Team. Once they come out, we arrest them.

?We?ll arrest the cow, even if the herders run away, the cows cannot get away that fast. That is what we have been doing. Once we arrest the cows, the herders will show up and want us to release the cows to them. If they fail to show up, we sell the cows. The law permits us to sell the cows. That is what the law says. And, once we sell the cows, we give the money to the farmers because their farms have been destroyed.

?That?s what the law says. If we arrest the cows and they are with us for seven days, after seven days, those cows have to be sold. But if they are in court, we have to wait because the judge will have to give judgment first. After the judgment, if the herders refuse to come to claim the cow, we will sell the cow and use the money to pay compensation to the farmers. That is what we are doing now. Once we know what is happening anywhere in Oyo State, within our own jurisdiction, we are ready to go. We will be there to sort it out. So, people should go back to the farms.?

Speaking on the issue, the Chairman of the three main tribes in Benue State and President General of Mzough U Tiv, MUT, worldwide, Chief Iorbee Ihagh, said: ?Miyetti Allah Is joking, they do not own Nigeria and they are just about three million people. They cannot tell us what to do. Laws are made to be obeyed; they have no choice but to obey the laws made by individual states or the National Assembly.

?We also have our own culture too, we are farmers, but then they come to carry all our food, destroy, kill a lot of people in the name of culture in order to feed their cattle. So they have no choice but to obey the grazing law. No religion says that people should be killed in the course of doing your business. That is what armed herdsmen are doing to our people in Benue state. There is anti-open grazing law in Benue and some other states. Nigerian laws are made for the people and it must be obeyed and anyone who disobeys an extant law must be made to face the consequences.

?Our culture and tradition cannot supersede the provisions of the law?.

On his part, a Clergyman and Public Affairs Analyst, Pastor David Ogbole, quipped: ?I came across that comment online that open grazing is an age long culture that cannot be scrapped overnight. That comment is simply being evasive as far as the current global expertise of animal husbandry is concerned. It is not because it is a culture. If they are truthful to themselves they know that cows eat five percent of their body weight every single day to be able to maintain normal health. Five percent of their body weight is the quantity of food they must consume every single day.

?So the move for ranching is going to be costlier for them to be able to provide this five percent of the body weight of every cattle per day. So they are simply avoiding the cost of ranching by going for something more cost effective which is open grazing because with open grazing they are not under pressure to provide the resources because the resources are abundant naturally. So he is just being evasive, it?s not a matter of culture. There is a law that has abolished it because it is unethical. Even within the Fulani community they know. So it is not a matter of culture, it is a matter of economy, let him be truthful.?

I don?t believe Edo has anti-open grazing law ? Activist

The Coordinator, Edo Civil Societies Coalition, Omobude Agho, doubted the existence of anti-open grazing law in Edo State with some opinion leaders and activists calling on the state government to promulgate a new law, saying the one claimed to have been passed by the government of Godwin Obaseki was never made public.

Agho said ?I believe Obaseki did it and went to hide it. We requested it over and over and they didn?t make it available. About four years ago, Edo people insisted that we should have an anti-grazing law, we went to the House of Assembly, there were public hearings, about two, where the house deliberated on it and a bill was formulated and passed. After that we heard that the law was transmitted to the governor by the House of Assembly, I think it was during the time of Speaker Marcus Onobunr but till today, nobody has seen that law.

?For me, I will say Edo State does not have a law on anti-open grazing. There were instances when communities protested to the governor then on the issue of herdsmen attacks, we never saw that law coming to effect or ever used. So, we assume that we don?t have any anti-open grazing law.

?We will appeal to Governor Monday Okpebholo to raise an executive bill to that effect or the members of the House of Assembly by themselves should initiate a bill to that effect so that the citizens can have what to hold on to in order to demand compensation over violations of their fundamental human rights anywhere these herdsmen invade their farms in the state.?

No will to implement law in Akwa Ibom, Rivers ? Stakeholders

In Akwa Ibom, stakeholders attributed the persisting open grazing resulting in herders and farmers clashes to lack of political will to enforce the anti-open grazing law enacted five years ago.

The bill signed into law in September 2021 by then Governor Emmanuel Udom provides a five-year jail term and a fine option of N1m among other punishments against offenders.

The implementation committee set up by the former Governor Udom and renewed efforts by incumbent Governor Umo Eno failed to ensure effective enforcement of the law. Open grazing persists with recurring reports of violent encounters between herders and farmers in various parts of the state.

Zik Gbemre, Coordinator, Niger Delta Peace Coalition, noted, ?Governors and security agencies are giving excuses, playing politics with the law. They?re setting up implementation committees and committing funds yet the problem persists. Truth remains that they lack enforcement will. It is not peculiar to Akwa Ibom. All the South-South states came up with the law years back but the law remains idle across the land.

Most herdsmen (particularly the nomads) are from the North of the country. Most heads of security formations in the region are not from the South-South. Many times they are protective of marauding herdsmen. The recent case in Edo comes to mind. Until culprits are tried and punished, the prohibition laws will remain idle. And as long as the culprits enjoy impunity of violence against farmers, open grazing and the menace it constitutes will persist.?

Parties? poor cooperation with security harming implementation ? CP Azare

The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, CP Baba Mohammed Azare, said the persistent open grazing despite the existence of prohibiting law is encouraged by failure of parties to cooperate with security agencies.

His words: ?We urge farmers to report any incident where cows enter their farms for grazing to the police promptly, rather than taking the law into their own hands. We cannot afford to let lives be lost over matters that can be settled peacefully.

The police will not tolerate any form of destruction of property, and anyone caught damaging others? property will face the full force of the law.?

However, the Chairman, Cattle Dealers Association, in Akwa Ibom State, Alhaji Mohammed Mijinyawa, Akwa state, has pledged his association?s full cooperation with the police and government, assuring farmers of cattle dealers? commitment to peaceful coexistence.

UNIUYO?s travails

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo UNIUYO, Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, identified open grazing as one of the challenges bedeviling the institution over the years. ?The situation at the UNIUYO Permanent site, on Nwaniba Road is so bad that I pity those students studying Agriculture. These farmers destroy their demonstration farms every time. It is a serious problem, but we are helpless because the government does not appear ready to fully enforce the anti-open grazing Law. Even the cattle rearers can insult you if you try to challenge them, because they will tell you that the cows belong to your big men?, the VC noted.

Mrs. Rosemary Ubia, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, acknowledged the renewed understanding and cooperation among stakeholders and expressed optimism over maintaining harmony in the State.

Rivers? situation

Barely two years to the expiration of his second term as governor of Rivers, Mr. Nyesom Wike signed into law the bill prohibiting open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state. However, it appears that there is lack of political power on the part of policy makers and law enforcement agencies to implement this law as cattle are still seen even on major roads in areas like Emohua, Ahoada East and West local government areas, and Ogoni kingdom among others.

Dr. Joseph Ambakaderimo, convener of the South-South reawakening group, SSRG, said the reason open grazing persists is because certain people have been treated with kid gloves overtime. According to him, ?there have been no consequences for those who break the laws of the land be it state, local government or federal law?.

Ambakaderimo recalled that even the Minister of livestock development had many times doubled down on open grazing, citing colonial grazing routes in the country to justify the roaming of cattle. ?If we have persons of this stature justifying open grazing with laws that would have been scrapped or repealed by now, then we all need to be worried?, he said.

He said states that enacted laws they couldn?t enforce meant that such laws were politically motivated and when such happens, it only confirms that states that embarked on making these anti-grazing laws only played to the gallery. ?If laws are not to be enforced, then why embark on the process of making such laws? This is a very serious matter that has drawn a parallel in this country and has become a ?No Go Area? in national discourse.

Those who have made the case for the economic angle of following modern methods of ranching are readily shot down, why this is so can?t be comprehended,? he added

No capacity to implement laws ? Adewale

Mr. Stephen Adewale, former Ondo state chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, said open grazing persists in Nigeria despite the passage of anti-open grazing laws because states lack the security, institutional, and financial capacity to enforce the laws effectively.

He continued: ?The second has to do with the control of key security agencies by the Federal Government. Policing in Nigeria is under federal control. State governments may pass anti-open grazing laws but they have limited authority to enforce them without federal security backing. Even in the states where we have Amotekun like in Ondo State, Amotekun can only work effectively when it is complemented by the Federal government controlled security agencies.

?The third factor has to do with political interests and elite complicity. Some powerful political figures at the federal and state levels benefit from maintaining the status quo or are reluctant to confront herder communities due to political alliances, ethnicity, or electoral considerations.

?The fourth factor is inadequate alternatives. While laws prohibit open grazing, governments have not provided sufficient alternatives such as well-developed ranches, grazing reserves, or support for pastoralists to transition into modern livestock practices.

?Lastly, corruption and impunity. Corruption is a major issue. In some cases, even when herders are arrested for violating the laws, corruption and political interference allow them to go free, which weakens the deterrent effect of the laws.?

No Federal backing ? Afenifere

Also speaking, Otunba Kole Omololu, National Organizing Secretary, Afenifere, said: ?There is no single nationwide law banning open grazing in Nigeria. What exist are state-level legislations following the National Economic Council?s 2017 recommendation of ranching as a solution to herders-farmers? clashes. States such as Benue, Ekiti, Oyo, Ondo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu, among others, have passed anti-open grazing laws.

However, open grazing persists because these laws are poorly enforced, security remains under federal control, and cultural, as well as economic factors, continue to sustain nomadic herding. Political sensitivities and land tenure challenges also make strict implementation difficult.

In essence, while anti-open grazing laws exist at the state level, the absence of a national framework and weak enforcement mechanisms render them largely ineffective, allowing the practice to continue.? (Saturday Vanguard)

Update news