The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria on Thursday urged the South-West governors to consider the creation of ranches before banning open grazing.

The group also said asking Fulani herdsmen to stop grazing their animal without providing alternative in ranches would be disastrous.

Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, the Vice President of the group, Sheikh Abdur’rasheed Hadiyatullahi, also said profiling all Fulani as criminals would be unfair to the decent ones among the tribe.

He said, “If you ban open grazing and you don’t create ranch, it is going to be disastrous. You can say animals should not be moving around and destroying crops, but give then ranches.

“Let them settle down and do their business. Ban open grazing and provide ranches. Akeredolu has not told Fulani herdsmen to leave. He only asked them to vacate forest reserve. But let the governors create ranch for the herders.”

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On eviction of some Fulani herders from Igangan, Oyo state, Hadiyatullahi said, “To a find way out of these herdsmen, host community conflicts, we call for dialogue and wider consultation. The Igangan incident must be condemned by all lovers of peace. But at the same time, we cannot close our eyes to the pain and suffering of farmers and indigenes of the area who criminals see as soft targets for kidnapping, armed robbery.”

‘Cattle rearing’s private business’

Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Mr Akin Omole, said on Thursday that those in the business of cattle rearing in the state were at liberty to create their cattle ranches.

Omole, who said cattle rearing was the private business of individuals, said, “If government wants to support farming, be it crop production or those in the field of animal production, the government will determine the way and manner it wants to go about it.