The Ondo State government, yesterday, said it would not prohibit cattle rearing in the state.
It, however, said plans were underway to regulate the activities of Fulani herdsmen and their cattle to ensure peaceful co-existence of farmers and the herdsmen in the state.
Herdsmen have been accused of murdering several farmers, raping their wives and female children and destroying several farmlands in recent times.
Senior Special Assistant to the governor, Mr. Akin Olotu, who said this during a stakeholders’ meeting, noted that the government had no plan to either ban grazing or restrict anyone from farming.
Olotu said: “The meeting became imperative to find a lasting solution to the unabated crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the state which have assumed a frightening dimension in the last few weeks.
“We are not going to prohibit cattle rearing in Ondo state; we are going to regulate it. It is not a crime to rear or own cattle in any part of the state, but it has to be done legitimately, it has to be done in such a way that someone’s business is not used to destroy another person’s business.
“So, what we will have in Ondo state is cattle rearing regulation in which case there will be dos and don’ts.”
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