By David Aduge-Ani
The leadership of the FCT chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has lamented that grazing reserves located in Kawu (Bwari Area Council), Rubochi (Kuje Area Council), and Paiko-Kore (Gwagwalada Area Council) have been taken over by farmers due to government’s failure to compensate them.
FCT Secretary of MACBAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Ciroma, said in an interview that the absence of grasses for cattle grazing remains the major cause of recurrent clashes between herders and farmers in parts of the territory.
He explained that despite Paiko-Kore being the most recognised grazing reserve, government had failed to pay compensation to farmers occupying the land, leaving herders stranded.
“As it stands, if you go to Paiko-Kore grazing reserve, what you will see is maize farms all over the place because government has failed to compensate farmers. This has forced herders to take their cows to hills or bushes, but even there, farmers still cultivate crops,” Ciroma said.
He added that grazing routes had also been encroached upon by farmers, further fueling disputes when cattle stray into farmlands.
Ciroma recalled that the immediate past FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, had planted grasses in Paiko-Kore to encourage settlement of herders, but the initiative failed. He attributed recent farmer-herder crises in rural Gwagwalada and Kwali to the lack of grazing reserves and encroachment on grazing routes.