Fulani Herders Sue Oyo Government Over Grazing Law

By Olusakin Babalola, Ibadan

In line with their resolve to their conflict over the grazing law,the FULANI herders in Oyo State have filed a suit against the state government and the State House of Assembly saying an anti grazing law recently passed is a gross violation of their fundamental rights.

The Group under the aegis of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria also joined the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state in the suit.

The new law which had become effective was aimed at checking persistent farmers-herders clash in the state which had claimed many lives in the past.

In the suit marked M/744/2019, the herders want the Oyo State High court to declare the law illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

They also want the court to grant them an order of perpetual injunction restraining all the “respondents, whether by themselves, their servants, agents, officers or otherwise from carrying out any acts or omission which is likely to aid the enactment or even enact or pass the purported anti grazing bill into law as this would amount to a denial of their fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution of Nigeria”.

Part of their prayers is that the court should declare the law as a coordinated attempt or strategy at curtailing the livelihood of the applicants and further frustrating their lives in breach of constitutional provisions particularly section 33(1) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) goes to naught and same is invalid, null and void.”

For aggravated, punitive and general damages, they asked the court to grant them N100,000 against the respondents jointly and severally for the violation of their fundamental rights.

The plaintiffs further stated that “as a matter of cultural heritage, open rearing or grazing of livestock having been passed onto generations to generations is the life and economy of the Fulani group on which the Fulani survives”.

The idea to pass the bill was mooted in October 2019 and just some weeks after that, it was debated and passed after allowing participation of all stakeholders to air their views.
The law has prohibited open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state and establishment of ranches for purposes connected to rearing of livestock.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit and efforts to get the reaction of the defendants failed as at press time.