The Federal Government on Friday cited the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol as a reason why non-citizens of Nigeria are still allowed to graze their cattle across the country.

It has been established that many herdsmen who are involved in clashes in Nigerian villages were not Nigerians.

The ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol, the government stated, has given the right of free movement to citizens of member countries.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who disclosed this at the opening of a two -day Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum on Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes in Abuja on Thursday, told journalists that the law is similar to the fundamental right to freedom of movement in the Nigerian Constitution.

Ogbeh said: “The Nigerian Constitution has given every citizen the fundamental right to freedom of movement in search of legitimate businesses; transhumance pastoralism is seen along these lines.

The minister stated that the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol allows for herders to move across borders in search of pasture upon fulfilling the conditions laid down in the Protocol.

“So it is not strange to see a Malian, Burkinabe or Nigerien pastoralist grazing his cows, sheep or goats in Nigeria or a Nigerian pastoralist grazing his livestock in Benin, Togo or Ghana and by extension, transhumance pastoralists from other neighbouring countries,” he added.