We Can’t Deploy Troops Forever — CDS Backs Ranches to Solve Insecurity”

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has reiterated the urgent need for the establishment of ranches across Nigeria, insisting that controlled animal grazing is essential to ending the protracted farmer-herder conflicts plaguing many parts of the country.

Speaking on Wednesday at a national security dialogue in Abuja, General Musa emphasised that modernising livestock management through ranching is not only an agricultural reform but also a strategic security measure.

“In order to address insecurity, two things are basic. We must be able to control the movement of animals across the region. In doing that, it is important we create ranches,” the CDS said. “Ranches will do a great deal in securing our control and will prevent the conflict between the farmer-herder clashes.”

General Musa further stated that open grazing has become unsustainable in today’s Nigeria due to increasing population density, rapid urbanisation, and expanding agricultural activities, all of which have intensified land-use conflicts.

“We must embrace modern livestock practices. Creating ranches across the country is not just an agricultural necessity, but a security imperative,” he asserted.

The military chief also addressed the practice of farmers killing stray animals that encroach on farmlands, proposing an alternative approach based on accountability and compensation.

“We must learn to stop killing animals crossing into farms. What is done is you arrest the animals and compensations are made. If we are able to address these two things, over 65% of challenges we have against farmers will be dealt with,” he said.

General Musa stressed that while the military continues to intervene in hotspots across the country, the underlying issues driving the crisis fall squarely within the domain of civil governance and policy.

“We cannot continue to deploy troops endlessly to solve what is essentially a governance and development issue,” he warned.

Over the past decade, clashes between farmers and herders particularly in the North Central and parts of the South, have led to thousands of deaths, destruction of farmland, and displacement of communities. Despite several peacebuilding efforts, the violence persists, largely due to the absence of a structural resolution.

The federal government’s National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), launched in previous years to promote ranching and grazing reserves, has seen limited success due to political pushback and disputes over land rights.

As insecurity continues to threaten food security and national cohesion, General Musa’s renewed advocacy for ranches is expected to spark fresh debate among policymakers, stakeholders, and the wider public on the future of livestock management in Nigeria.