Group raises the alarm over alleged plot by Obaseki to cede communal lands to herdsmen

▪︎ As Gov allocates 20% of ancestral lands to “ranching” in anti-open grazing bill

A group, Edo Development Forum (EDF) has accused Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki of plotting to cede communal lands in the State to herdsmen attacking, killing, raping and violently dispossessing local owners of farmlands across the State.

The group stated this against the backdrop of a controversial clause contained in the Anti-Open Grazing Bill transmitted to the House of Assembly by the state government.

According to the EDF, in clause 5(7) of the disputed Bill, the Edo State Government granted the allocation of 20 per cent of lands across the state to the pastoral herdsmen under the guise of a ranching system.

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The group expressed fear that the bill if passed, considering the near-absolute control of the partial Assembly by Governor Godwin Obaseki, Edo State, would become the first Southern State in the country to write into the law the public concession of lands to herders who stand accused of numerous atrocities in the state and across the southern region.

In a statement signed by Felix Isere and Mr Baron Mike, the Executive Director and Director of Media and Publicity of EDF respectively, the group claimed that the Governor planned to trade lands in the State in exchange for favours from his “Fulani friends.”

“Edo State is now faced with the existential threat of losing ownership of at least 20 per cent of her land in all the districts of the state to marauding herdsmen who have killed, raped and maimed our people with impunity,” the statement read in part.

“This is because Governor Godwin Obaseki, in his usual and outrageous political calculation, has ranked his friendship with his Fulani backers over and above the safety, well-being, and future of Edo citizens, including our women and children.

“Whereas other Southern States have stood solidly in their rejection of any plan to cede even an inch of their lands to herdsmen or any foreign group under any arrangement, be it ranching or whatsoever, we now have hard proof that Mr. Godwin Obaseki is yet again traveling in the opposite direction with the transmission of his Anti-Open Grazing Bill to his partial Assembly, which contains a clause that mandates the gazette of 20 per cent of lands to herdsmen under the pretext of establishing a ranching system.

“In effect, Governor Godwin Obaseki is attempting to legitimise the reign of terror of these herdsmen who have shown blatant disregard for the territorial integrity of our State and the rights of our people to assert their ownership of their communal and ancestral lands.

“In communities such as Okokhuo, Agemokpae, Iguhoro, Ugbokuli, Agekpanu, Okoghohon, Abumwenre II, Ugboke, Ariyan, Okokodo, Oshodin, Iguogho, Ofitebe, and Igolo, the death toll continues to rise as our people are butchered by these herdsmen who march their cows into people’s farms, destroy their crops, and lay siege to hunt human beings for sport.

“Instead of ensuring justice and committing resources, including the nearly one billion naira monthly security vote he receives, to the stamping out of these criminals who have have refused to obey existing laws on property rights and business operations, Governor Godwin Obaseki has decided to reward their murderous campaigns with a concession that will imperil the safety of our communities, and leave our unborn sons and daughters at the risk of being landless and second-class citizens in the lands of their forefathers.” (The Sun)