Benue to auction confiscated livestock

Governor Samuel Ortom has said confiscated livestock will be auctioned

The Benue Government has directed its Ministry of Finance to appoint a registered auctioneer to auction livestock confiscated in violation of the state Anti-Open Grazing Law 2017.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr Lawrence Onoja, disclosed this while briefing newsmen after the state Executive Council meeting on Thursday in Makurdi.

Onoja said the livestock was confiscated from some cattle owners in the state who violated the subsisting law against open grazing.

The commissioner said the government also gave the livestock owners up to March 19 to pay stipulated fines to the state Ministry of Agriculture to claim their animals.

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He said failure of the owners to do so the livestock would be auctioned as from March 20.

Onoja also disclosed that the council approved the release of N261 million as counterpart fund for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme in the state.

He said the council also approved the constitution of the Debt Management Committee for the state, similar to the Debt Management Office (DMO) at the federal level.