The Katsina state government has summoned a stakeholders meeting to look into encroachment on grazing reserves, which seems to be one of the root cause of consistent clashes between farmers and herdsmen clashes in Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Aminu Bello Masari stressed the need to urgently find a lasting solution to this problem especially now that farmers and herdsmen in the state are once again living in harmony.
TVC News Katsina Correspondent, Awwal Ibrahim reports that the meeting was organised by the Katsina state Dialogue and Amnesty Committee, to discuss how existing grazing reserves could be properly preserved for the herdsmen.
Governor Masari disclosed that he was considering the possibility of giving an executive order towards sanctioning trespassers on grazing reserves.
He also lamented the conduct of some Officers and men of the Nigerian Police and some Shariah Court Judges on matters relating to land disputes.
The governor said various Committees would be inaugurated from state to political wards levels and Traditional institutions would be empowered as a means of speeding up resolution on land disputes in the state.
Earlier, the Chairman of the state’s Dialogue and Amnesty Committee says there is no better time than now, for this type of stakeholders meeting considering the number of complaints the committee has received across the state.
On his part the Katsina state chairman of the Miyatte Allah Cattle Breeders Association, says there is spontaneous increase in the cases of grazing reserves encroachment, a situation that always leads to farmers-herdsmen crisis.
Other participants called for the enactment of enabling laws to retrieve encroached land and adequately sanction subsequent offenders.
