No Ban on Goat Rearing in Iyin, Only on Free Roaming — Traditional Council Clarifies

By Joseph Sunday

The Oluyin-in-Council of Iyin-Ekiti has clarified that the town’s policy prohibiting free-roaming goats and sheep is for community sanitation and public safety, not a revenue-generating scheme.

In a statement dated September 15, 2026, and signed by members of the Oluyin-in-Council, the traditional authority said its attention was drawn to what it described as a gross misrepresentation of a collective decision taken about two years ago by the Council and the Ajo Ilu, the general assembly of Iyin-Ekiti people.

According to the Council, the policy only requires owners of goats and other ruminants to keep their animals properly enclosed.

“It was not conceived as a revenue-generating scheme or a punitive campaign against goat owners. It is a community sanitation, environmental protection and public safety measure,” the Council stated.

It explained that roaming goats defecate on roads and public spaces, destroy trees planted to beautify the town, damage gardens and constitute a public nuisance. The solution, it said, is straightforward: owners must enclose their animals.

The Council noted that such a principle is not new in Iyin. It recalled that in the 1970s, following deaths linked to rabies-infected dogs, the community took a decision to eliminate dogs in the town, and on another occasion resolved that pigs should not be reared without proper enclosure.

“Those decisions were about protecting public health, safety and communal well-being, not making money,” it said.

The Council described as misleading the portrayal of the current enforcement as a money-making venture because fines are imposed when goats are seized.

“The fine is not the policy; compliance is the objective. If goat owners comply, there is nothing to seize and no fine to pay. A penalty for violating a regulation does not, by itself, make that regulation a revenue-generating scheme,” the statement said.

It added that the policy is consistent with the Prohibition of Cattle and Other Ruminants Grazing in Ekiti State (First Amendment) Law, 2018, No. 1 of 2018, which provides in Section 2(1)(a) that: “No person shall cause or permit any cattle or other ruminants belonging to him or under his control to graze on any land in which the Governor has not designated as ranches.”

The Council stressed that the law extends beyond cattle to other ruminants and that its underlying principle is that animals under human control should not be allowed to roam and graze indiscriminately.

“Iyin is, therefore, not inventing an alien principle. It is asserting a basic responsibility that comes with animal ownership,” it said, adding that nobody is barred from rearing goats in Iyin, but owners should not externalize the consequences of uncontrolled animal movement onto the wider community.

The Council said concerns about the manner of enforcement can be raised constructively, but should be separated from questioning the legitimacy of the policy itself.

“The objective is simple: a cleaner, safer, more orderly and more beautiful Iyin. And the issue is not revenue. It is responsible animal ownership,” it added.

The statement was signed on behalf of the town by High Chief Ayodeji Simon Esan, the Odofinyin of Iyin-Ekiti; High Chief Bayo Akerele, the Petu of Iyin-Ekiti; High Chief Ibikunle Olubobokun, the Odofin of Iyin-Ekiti; Mrs. Caroline Ajayi, Regent Asinsin of Iyin-Ekiti; and Chief Elejide Omobulejo, Secretary.