The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Thursday signed  the Bill to Regulate Animal Grazing and Establishment of Cattle Ranching in Ogun State into law .

Abiodun, was said to have called a security council meeting at the  Governor’s Office in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, and assented to the bill .

The State House of Assembly had on July 8, 2021, passed the bill.

Abiodun called on the security agencies to swing immediately into action and enforce provisions of the law.

He added, “Ogun, has enjoyed peace among various ethnic nationalities until the recent farmer-herder skirmishes.

“Herders have a six- month period of grace before it becomes illegal in Ogun State for cattle rearers to occupy unapproved public areas and private land with their livestock for grazing.”

A committee headed by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, was set up to midwife the implementation of the new law.

A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, reads partly, “There were pockets of crises witnessed in the state as a result of alleged open grazing in the Yewa area, necessitating the setting up of a peace committee headed by a former House of Representatives member, Kayode Oladele. It is expected that the anti-open grazing law will prevent the spread of the menace across the state.

“By implication, in six months, it will become unlawful to openly graze cattle or other livestock in the state.”

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Meanwhile, the ban on open grazing has taken effect in Delta State as Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Thursday signed the bill on anti-open grazing into law.

The Delta State Livestock, Breeding, Rearing and Marketing Regulation Bill 2021, the bill was signed into law 10 days after the bill was passed by the state House of Assembly.

The law prohibits the carrying of “firearms by residents” in the state just as it seeks to address the indiscriminate movements of livestock in the state.

Okowa who promised enforcement called on the Federal Government to assist interested farmers to establish ranches across the country.

He said, “I think that it is time for our nation to depart from the old ways and to look into the future, ensuring that we do things in the best way for development.

“Today Delta State can rightly boast that we now have a law that regulates livestock breeding, rearing and marketing and a law that also prohibits open grazing.”

Okowa also signed the Delta State Urban and Regional Planning Bill 2020 into law.