Benue CAN Rejects Federal Ranching Plan

(CAN. Photo by Premuim Times)

The Benue State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the state's proposed pilot ranching program.

The association explained that Benue has no land accessible for the Federal Government's ranching initiative, and that its members were disappointed by the choice.

Rev. Jonathan Terwase Ugbede, the association's acting chairman, announced this in Makurdi.

He added that land in Benue was already insufficient for the state's rising population, making it unacceptable to consider transferring people's ancestral lands to the Federal Government for the proposed ranching scheme.

"Land has not been available anywhere in the state, and the Church in Benue does not support the pilot ranching."

"No government including Benue State should contemplate giving the ancestral lands to the Tinubu Federal Government for invasion in the form of the proposed ranching expected to be the private business," he stated.

Rev. Ugbede expressed worry that the government's plan to construct ranches represented a disregard for the existing law barring open grazing and allowing ranches to be established as private companies, which he claimed the Federal Government was now aggressively pursuing.

He bemoaned that the law had not been abolished, emphasizing that the pilot ranching program will violate it by seizing lands belonging to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and establishing ranches on them using public monies.

Chief Ugbede questioned why the government appeared unwilling to prioritise the return of displaced people to their ancestral homes to reclaim their lands, but had instead chosen to pursue the pilot ranching programme.

The Benue CAN chairman, however, applauded the Tinubu administration for establishing the 5 Division of the Nigerian Army in the state to address security concerns.

He said the move was commendable and capable of combating the prevailing insurgency while promoting peace and development in the state.