FCTA begins enforcement against open grazing

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Worried by increasing open grazing and stray animals on Abuja streets, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), via the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has commenced strict enforcement against keeping and grazing animals in homes and streets, in order to mitigate a myriad of physical and health challenges caused by the menace.

In particular, the AEPB enforcement team accompanied by a joint team of security agencies yesterday stormed the streets and arrested some animals mainly cows caught roaming and grazing along the busy Airport road, in Abuja, nation’s capital.

However, during the exercise, the AEPB team came under attack from those rearing the animals, who resorted to throwing stones and barricading the busy road, in a failed attempt to recover their seized animals, but the security personnel attached to the AEPB team dispersed them with tear-gas canisters.

Explaining the exercise, AEPB Director, Engr. Osi Briamah, who noted that it is a clear signal that the menace is no longer acceptable in the FCT, reiterated that the laws against grazing of animals in the FCT is quite clear.

He explained that the extant rule is that people are not allowed to keep animals in their residential property, or graze animals on the streets of Abuja, especially along the Airport road or any of such places within the nation’s capital city.

Briamah who decried that animals crossing highways and other streets have been involved in car accidents that caused the death of people who ram into them, said seized animals will be taken to Mobile for further action.

“These are clearly illegal acts, and we cannot and we will not have animals crisscrossing the expressways, and we will not certainly allow people to keep animals on their properties, because they also carry diseases that are passed to humans. So apart from constituting physical environmental nuisance, they also constitute public health hazards, this is precisely why we have city planning, for you to keep your animals in certain areas, and live in certain areas. No conflict about this.

“We have always tried to enforce the law, but it is getting more serious now because if you live in Abuja, you see animal grazing everywhere; cows everywhere. This is no longer acceptable, and we are going to begin strict enforcement. We are going to seize these animals (those roaming the streets) and we will take the violators to court in the next couple of days.

“Our prayer will be to ask the court to confiscate those seized animals and give them away because we have done all we can to mitigate this problem, but it is getting worse.

Cows crossing highways have been involved in car accidents, caused the death of people who ram into them in FCT,” he stressed.

The AEPB Director noted that it was observed that most of those rearing the animals are children between ages 8-10 years old boys and city rules and routes are not known to them, which is a great risk to motorists and other residents in the FCT. So, it must come to an end, and that’s why we are embarking on strict enforcement, particularly within the next one or two months, we want the city to be rid of animals on the streets.

Commenting on the attacks on the AEPB officials during the exercise, he said it is always a problem, even though they have armed policemen and other security personnel attached to them, who always try to use very minimal force.

He added that they had discussed and appealed to their elders and parents to help stop the menace, by not allowing their children to be heading animals on the streets of Abuja.

According to him, “For those in government, security outfits or private sector who these animals in their homes, should know that it is illegal, as you cannot keep cows in your house.

“A lot of these cows are owned by some important people who give them out to the little boys to graze for them. This is against the law in the FCT. If you have gifts of cows, the advice is that you can take it to your village or a ranch or have it slaughtered.

“So, I’m using this medium to reiterate that it is not legal to keep animals in your house, even though occasionally during the festive season, they are given out as gifts to important people, but you have to look for a way to keep them in a ranch or farm, but not your house”.

On his part, Deputy Director, AEPB Monitoring and Enforcement, TPL Kaka Bello, said to successfully tackle the menace in the city, AEPB will sustain and take the enforcement to notorious spots and other parts of the city.

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