Nigerian governors end free range grazing amid clashes

Nigerian governors have agreed to end free range grazing to resolve the deadly conflicts between herders and farmers.

Clashes between farmers and herders - over access to land and grazing rights - have killed thousands of people over the past two decades.

The governors met leaders of the cattle breeders association on Monday and resolved to also ban night grazing and under age herding.

They resolved to form a committee in each state to ensure a harmonious relationship between herders and farmers.

The meeting followed renewed clashes between farmers and herders in the south-west region. Last week Ondo State's governor ordered herders to leave all forest reserves in the state.

In 2018 the International Crisis Group said clashes between herders and farmers had become Nigeria’s gravest security challenge, claiming far more lives than the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Getty Images

Blessing Mwangi