Benue farmers have lost N553m to attacks —Agric Commissioner

Following the incessant attacks on Benue State communities by herdsmen, the state agriculture commissioner, James Ambua, speaks with JOHNSON BABAJIDE on the implication of the attacks on Nigeria, among other issues.

HOW many cows have been arrested from the grazing spot or areas as regard to the implementation of the anti open grazing law?

The actual figure cannot be ascertained now because the figure  keeps increasing day by day. As I speak to you now if I give you any figure, I may be lying. But the ones that were caught and kept under detention that their owners come for them are many and the owners have paid the fines as stipulated by the law and they have been released to the owners.

How much are you charging owners?

We charged two thousand naira per cow and some have been released upon payment of the sum. So when you multiply N2000 by 206 then you have N412,000. So the owners came and we release them  The ones at the local government  are not building ranches for herders because our law did not stipulate that. We are following the law. Farming is a private business, so, if herders approach us that they need land, they will sign our papers and we will give them the land for ranches.

For instance in Logo local government area which I known, about 60 cows were confiscated and the owners paid the mandatory fee as required by law to reclaim their cows.

Is the detention of the  animals centralised or decentralised?

Yea, it is decentralised. Other local governments like Guma have made some arrest and the owners have not come and the local government is taking charge of them. At Logo, the owners came for them. The issues are more intense in Logo and Guma. Therefore, the arrest is decentralized, they are not in one place.

We understand that local governments find it difficult to make arrest because there is nowhere to keep those cows. What are you doing to address the issue?

You see, that is why the law has given responsibility to the local governments to make arrests, detain and charge them. Even at the state level, we did not make provision for detention until recently that one was provided. We instructed local governments to arrange for detention ranching areas for those cows that are arrested. I understand that the law stipulates that the ceased animals should  be in detention for not more that seven days, so you can make a temporary arrangement where you can provide a field where the animals can be kept and if after seven days , the owners did not come, the law stipulates that the state or the committee has the right to auction those animals to the public.

You said that 206 cows were seized, how many days did they spend in detention?

They spent the first seven days and the eighth day that was stipulated for auction then the owners came and we decided to release them since we are just implementing the law and remember that the governor said at the beginning that the law is going to be implemented with human face.  A grace of three days was given and even as they came after seven days, we still allow them to bail their cows at the approved fines.

How much money did your ministry spend for the upkeep of the detained cows including their treatment?

To be precise and from what my director in charge of animals told me, we spent an average of N46,000 for feeding and N30,000 to provide water for them for the days that the animals stayed in detention.

May we know the numbers of animals that have been auctioned since the implementation of the law and subsequent arrest?

No animal has been auctioned out since we started arresting them. The ones we arrested, the owners came and we released them at the stipulated price.

What is the collaboration between the office of the security adviser to the governor and your Ministry? 

We are collaborating very well. The security adviser provides security for the animals and we collaborate with our livestock guards to make arrest.

Your ministry is in charge of sensitizing those rearing animals, what effort have you made towards sensitizing these people especially herdsmen?

I have held several meetings with the herdsmen. As I speak, I have selected some meetings with them and by next week we will be holding one meeting in my office to see how we will be implementing the law without much pains as it is now.

What is the countenance  of those whose cows were ceased?

They were happy because they came and discovered that their cows were healthy.

Up till now you are still having the  crisis, what is this crisis going to potent in food security in Nigeria knowing that Benue remain the largest producer of food in Nigeria?

Already there is a threat to food security in Benue State. Food production starts from land preparation and by now farmers in those areas are supposed to have started clearing lands for the next cropping season but most of these people are in IDPs camps and they have not gone back to start the process.

And those are the highly crops processing areas and since they  are not in their ancestral home, they can’t talk of clearing lands. Therefore the food security is threatened because these people cannot go back to farm and there cannot be farming activities in those areas and there will be shortage of food towards the end of 2018.

Even the 2017 cropping season, we are expecting bumper harvest because Benue State is one of the highest mass producers of rice but most of those rice farms were not harvest, all of these is lost and even the little ones harvested were destroyed.

As I speak,  the worst hit LGA of Guma and Logo produces 25,000  metric tones of rice and that is the one that were ceased and the one that is not harvested.

Just approximate one hundred and ten Naira to a  kilo, you will discover that a minimum of N3-4 billion  is the value of rice that is harvested in each of the local government that are affected by this crisis and remember also that the attack came at the cropping season and most of these people have not harvested their crops.

When I was going through these LGs, I discovered that the rice that was harvested was not up to 40 or 50 per cent.

What will be the fate of those farmers who took the CBN-Anchor Borrower loan?

Those are the challenges and I am just putting up a report to be submitted to the SSG to present in one of the meetings that he is going to make presentations. Most of these people that took this anchor borrower loans are the ones badly affected by the crisis and you cannot go towards them.

You cannot ask somebody to pay what he does not have. Actually, we went round and discovered that these people actually farmed, they did not harvest them, so if somebody took a loan and for the fact that he took a loan to farm, even as he farm and he could not harvest it, can you ask him to pay or kill the person. And if such situation happens,  even those who actually harvested will hide under the pretense that they were affected.

Again, most of these people that took this loan are living at the river bank of Guma, Logo and Gwer West where we have the crisis. So, some are affected genuinely which some are not affected genuinely.

How much did these people take as loans?

That is another challenge. CBN did not even disburse cash component to the farmers. It was only the input component and that was what delayed their harvest because they did not have money to harvest, they were just using their personal efforts.

If you multiply that input component in Naira, how much will you say CBN gave?

The input component is about N553 million. The input that the farmers collected valued that money.

Generally, how would you assess the anti open grazing law with regard to the current happenings?

It has been successful. You know takeoff of any programme is always a challenge but to me, I have seen the success already of the anti open grazing law in the state. It is a win-win law. The only thing to do is to accept it. Let me tell you that ranching is the way forward and the best practice all over the world. Go to Kenya, Tanzania etc, it is ranching. That is what we expect our herders here to do.

There is this argument by the herders  that it is government that should to provide land for ranches and make available all the social amenities there?

I think if anybody is arguing like that the person is not fair. If you are doing crops farming, does government provide land for you. Crops farming and animal rearing are farming and both of them are farming business. So if you are doing crops farming, nobody provides land for you. If I go to Ushongo to farm, I will have to lease land. As I am farming in Guma here, I lease land. So if you are rearing animals, you have to lease land and ranch, look for feeds and sell them. That is just that and it is a win-win situation.

What is the latest about the pilot ranches that the state government promised to build?

We have started. Go to Gaadi there, one is  completed and it was built to accommodate five thousand animals. We have provided water, security  and providing lighting there and other necessary facilities.

Why are you building them?

The pilot ranches are meant for animals that are ceased for violating the anti open grazing law. We are not doing it for herders, we are not building any ranch to donate to any herders, it is a government property. We are building for our own use. If we cease any animal, we take it there but we are going to build it according to standard so that you will know that your animal is taken to a safe place for you to come and reclaim later.

Will the state government abide by the directives by IGP that state must build ranches before enforcement of anti open grazing law?

Our law did not stipulate that and so we are not going to do such thing. We are acting strictly according to the law that was passed by the Benue State House of Assembly and  assented to by the Benue state government because there is no gain  going about building ranches for herders. If you build ranches for herders,it means that you will go round providing land, fencing land  and clearing land for every crop farmers. So, we are following the law, farming is business. So if any herdsman approaches us for licence to build ranch’ we will issue licence to him as required by law not just giving them lands, the law has already stipulated everything.

If the Inspector General of Police is saying government should build ranches for herders , it means he is giving too much load to state government that  Benue cannot carry. Imagine the population of Benue state and about ninety per cent of them are farmers including livestock rearers. So we will build ranches for them and construct farm houses for them. That will be too much us.