Authorities in Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi State have said that farmers in the area have encroached into over 7,000 hectares of grazing reserves for crop cultivation.
The director of administration and general services of the council, Fatihu Ado Musa, stated this when he presented a white paper on forest and grazing reserves in Bununu, the headquarters of the council.
He said the vast forest reserves turned into farmlands were illegally acquired by individuals, communities and groups through dubious means.
Musa who is the deputy chairman of Tafawa Local Government White Paper Implementation Committee on Grazing and Forest Reserves said the committee would demarcate cattle routes hitherto turned into farms which fuel farmers and herders’ clashes in the area.
He said the illegal communities raised in the forest reserves consist of families displaced by ethno-religious conflicts in Taraba and Plateau States.
Musa allayed fears that members of the settlements were responsible for the recent growing trends of kidnapping and armed robbery in the area.
The chairman of Miyetti Allah Association of the council, Alhaji Sa’idu Adamu, said the effort would address the incessant clashes between herders and farmers in the council.
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