By Ezinwanne Onwuka
(Abuja) After years of unchecked attacks by herders on farms and rural communities, a Nigerian court has finally delivered a landmark conviction by sentencing a Fulani herdsman to 10 years in prison for illegal grazing and destruction of farmland.
It is the first real test of Ondo State’s anti-open grazing law.
First Conviction Under Southern State’s Anti-Grazing Law
In Akure, the capital of Ondo State, a magistrates’ court sentenced Dan Bello, a Fulani herdsman, to 10 years in prison for grazing his cattle illegally and destroying farmland owned by the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria. The livestock trampled acres of young palm trees and watermelons.
The action in question, committed on October 27, 2023, was in clear violation of Ondo State’s anti-open grazing law, which was passed in 2021 under the leadership of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. It was a bold move aimed at stopping the growing trend of violent herder invasions in southern communities.
“This is worthwhile and a very laudable development aimed at stemming needless instances of skirmishes, conflicts as well as infractions on the enviably peaceful disposition of the good people of Ondo State,” Akeredolu said when he signed the bill into law.
His leadership helped unify the 17 southern governors, who met in Asaba on July 5, 2021, and agreed to ban open grazing in their states by September 1 that same year. But despite this consensus, Dan Bello’s case marks the first conviction under the law.
Enforcement has been limited, partly due to resistance from the federal government. Garba Shehu, spokesperson for then-President Muhammadu Buhari, denounced the law, saying it was of “questionable legality.”
Former Attorney General Abubakar Malami argued that banning open grazing infringed on the herders’ constitutional right to move freely. He even compared the ban to forbidding spare parts trading in northern states.
According to Malami, “It is as good as saying the northern governors come together to say that they forbid spare part trading in the North. Does it hold water?”
From the Middle Belt to the South: Conflict Spreads
While the Northeast of Nigeria is dealing with Boko Haram and its ISIS-linked offshoot ISWAP, and the Northwest states battle armed bandits, the Middle Belt—particularly Benue and Plateau states—has become a hotspot for violent attacks by Fulani ethnic militias, who are frequently called “bandits” or “terrorists” as well. That violence is now slowly moving south.
In April, attacks in Benue and Plateau, about 170 miles apart, left dozens dead and farmlands in ruins. On Palm Sunday, April 14, Bassa County in Plateau buried 54 people after extremists raided the area, torching homes and forcing hundreds to flee. According to eyewitnesses, the mauraders spoke the language of the Fulani tribe.
TruthNigeria reports that Fulani jihadist groups now control nearly 20,000 square miles of territory in both states, displacing mostly Christian farming communities.
In Benue, the violence used to be restricted to Tiv-speaking areas, but now is spreading south into Idoma-speaking parts such as Otukpo county.
Public affairs analyst Ejiofor Alike warned that if the attackers succeed in taking over Idoma land, the Southeast, especially Enugu State, could be next.
There are also reports that Fulani militias have quietly acquired more than 5,000 plots of land in strategic border villages in Abia State, including Mgboko Umuanunu near Akwa Ibom State and Akpaa Mbato, which is located behind the National Institute for Nigerian Languages in Aba town.
“These land acquisitions pose serious security threats,” said Eze Okey Ananaba, traditional ruler of Okahia in Obingwa County. “They could be used as operational bases for violent attacks on residents.”
Iowa-Based Christian Nonprofit Steps in Where Government Fails
Amid the attacks in Central Nigeria, an Iowa-based missionary group, Equipping the Persecuted Initiative, has stepped in where government humanitarian aid is lacking.
The nonprofit, led by Judd Saul, provides survivors with food, clothing, and emergency shelter. They have also equipped local defenders with training and tactical gear and recently donated advanced communication devices to Nigeria’s Civil Defense Corps to help track threats outside Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Saul believes the Nigerian government has done little to stop the bloodshed.
“It appears that the Nigerian government is both complicit and negligent,” he told TruthNigeria, a project of Equipping the Persecuted. “There is no excuse for the Nigerian government to ignore the slaughter of innocents.”
Anti-Open Grazing Laws Get Passed, But Enforcement Still Falls Short
Benue and Plateau have suffered some of the worst violence from Fulani-terrorist invaders.
In 2017, Benue’s then-Governor Samuel Ortom signed the state’s anti-open grazing law, which punishes violators with up to five years in prison. That law became a model for other states such as Ondo and Ekiti.
So far, at least 11 of the 17 southern states have followed suit, including Lagos, Enugu, Osun, and Ondo. But enforcement remains spotty, especially in rural areas where security is thin and political will even thinner.
In many communities, Fulani herders show up armed, graze freely and set up camp on private farmland, all without permission or compensation. Crops are destroyed, women are raped, and anyone who resists risks being murdered.
For now, Bello’s conviction is getting lauded by farmers.
“Every time I see cows near my land, my heart jumps,” said a middle-aged farmer in Owo who spoke to TruthNigeria anonymously. “They come at night, destroy everything, and disappear. Reporting to the police doesn’t always help. This conviction is the first time I’ve seen the law truly work.”
Ezinwanne Onwuka is an Abuja-based feature writer for TruthNigeria.
