The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed pilot ranching scheme in Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Taraba states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), describing it as an attempt to take over lands belonging to ethnic communities.

The group also demanded full disclosure of the proposed ranching sites, legal instruments for their acquisition, ownership structure, beneficiaries, size of the lands involved and sources of funding.

The leaders gave their position in a statement jointly signed by His Royal Majesty, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Leader, Afenifere and Chairman, SMBLF; Dr Bitrus Pogu, President, Middle Belt Forum; Senator John Azuta-Mbata, President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; and Ambassador Godknows Igali, National Chairman, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), in Abuja on Wednesday.

The SMBLF said it was “alarmed by the audacious attempt by the Federal Government to take over lands belonging to ethnic communities in the Middle Belt under a spurious ‘pilot scheme’ being introduced in the name of a New National Livestock Policy.”

The leaders questioned why the proposed scheme was concentrated largely in the Middle Belt despite the availability of “vast expanses of sparsely populated and unused land” in parts of the far North, arguing that the region should provide land for grazing reserves.

“It is striking that this experiment is being concentrated almost entirely in the Middle Belt, despite the vast expanses of sparsely populated and unused land available in many parts of the far North, where Fulani Emirs dominate most of the lands,” they said.

The forum stressed that it was not opposed to modern livestock production, ranching or the development of the livestock value chain, but rejected what it described as the “opaque, coercive and discriminatory manner” in which the policy was being pursued.

The leaders said the policy appeared to favour nomadic Fulani herdsmen, warning that a pilot scheme, if allowed to proceed, could eventually be expanded to the Southern states.

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“The scheme is being presented as a pilot, but if it is not firmly opposed by the communities whose lands are being short-changed, it will inevitably be expanded to other parts of the country, including the Southern States,” the statement said.

The SMBLF also aligned itself with the Middle Belt Forum, which had earlier rejected the scheme, and called on communities and governments in the South to be prepared to resist the policy.

The leaders argued that the Land Use Act of 1978 did not give the federal government a licence for arbitrary land acquisition, saying the law recognised customary rights of occupancy and permitted revocation only in the overriding public interest.

They added that ranching was a private economic enterprise and, therefore, government should not use the concept of public interest to disguise compulsory land acquisition for specific economic actors.

The forum expressed suspicion that the policy could result in permanent settlement zones for nomadic Fulani herdsmen, citing the violent conflicts that had affected communities across the Middle Belt and parts of the South.

It recalled previous proposals, including the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) and cattle colony schemes, which were rejected by Nigerians over concerns about land ownership and demographic restructuring.

“The SMBLF will not accept such a policy. We warn the Federal Government that the Middle Belt and the South are not dumping grounds for controversial land policies,” the leaders declared.

They insisted that the lands belonged to communities that depended on them for farming, homes, livelihoods and survival.

The group therefore demanded transparency on the proposed ranching programme, including the exact locations of the sites, the legal instruments backing their acquisition, ownership structure, security implications, beneficiaries, size of the land and sources of funding.

“Until these questions are answered transparently and the rights of affected communities are fully protected, the SMBLF rejects the proposed ranching scheme in the Middle Belt and the South,” the statement said.

The leaders warned that they would “resist every attempt to seize community lands under the guise of livestock development.”