THE Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Titus Ubah, on Friday, condemned in totality plans by the federal government to allocate any portion of land within the state for building of Ruga Settlement for herdsmen. Mr. Ubah, who made his position know at a press conference in Makurdi, said the Federal Government of Nigeria could not allocate land for the establishment of Ruga-Fulani settlements in Benue State without the knowledge of the state government. According to him, Benue State government would not give out Benue land for the settlement initiative, as according to him, there is inadequate land to meet the farming needs of the agrarian communities of the state. “Therefore, the 9th Benue State House of Assembly as a parliament condemn in totality plans by any individual, group of people or federal government to allocate any portion of land within the Benue for such a questionable project. “To this end, I hereby categorically state that the Benue State House of Assembly rejects the move for Fulani-Ruga settlement in the State and instead support the full implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 as ranching remains global best practice,” Ubah stated.

Source: Nigerian Tribune June 29, 2019 06:35 UTC