Following the constitution of a peace and security committee by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State to stem the tide of clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers in the state, the Enugu State chapter of Miyetti Allah has stepped up the initiative by holding meetings with farmers in the !7 local government areas in the state. The first of the peace meetings initiated by the leader of the Miyetti Allah in the South East, Mallam Ardo Ibrahim Umaru, was held in Enugu recently with both the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers pledging to live peacefully with one another. The farmers were led by their chairman, Chief Nwatalari, who at the meeting expressed the need for the two parties to respect each other. He said: “When we fail to respect each other, problems arise. This kind of interaction is necessary for us to iron out our differences.
It will also enhance understanding. I suggest that we do it regularly as we have established a rapport with the herdsmen.” He pleaded with the leadership of the herdsmen to continue to educate their members and promised that the leadership of the farmers would also continue to do its best in that regard. He urged both parties not to give politicians room to exploit their differences to achieve selfish ends. At the occasion was also the Hausa community whose leadership posited that 50 per cent of the problem had been solved on account of the interaction. The Hausa community told the herdsmen to try to understand and respect the culture and traditions of their host communities. “Once this is done, the problem will be over.
We advise that other South East states take a cue from this initiative in Enugu State,“ he said. Altogether, there are 58 herders living in Enugu, revealed Umaru, the leader of Miyetti Allah in the South East. He noted that the peaceful co-existence between herdsmen and farmers in the state would be enhanced by the decision of the governor to set up the Peace and Security Committee. Pleading with the farmers and herdsmen to take advantage of the peace initiative, Mallam Ardo said: “Let us be our brother’s keepers. We are all from Adam and Eve. In the past, herders and their host communities lived peacefully together.
Let us continue to sustain and improve on this.” Ardo, who spoke with The Nation on the initiative, said: “I want to thank and appreciate our governor, Hon. Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who God has used to bring peace and security in the state. The meetings we are having were initiated by our governor who set up the Peace and Security Committee of which I am a member. “It is the desire of our governor that this peace and security campaign is extended to the grassroots so that the real village farmers and real Fulani breeders would come together, resolve their differences and map out how to avoid clashes and crisis that may erupt between them. “The meetings are of great importance because farmers will have direct contact with their Fulani breeders, and if there is any misunderstanding between them, they will come together and resolve it amicably.
If this is done, it will reduce rumours of attacks by Fulanis. “I also want to state clearly that many of us Fulanis have become indigenes of Enugu State by birth and we have no other place than Enugu State. Therefore, we cannot fold our hands and allow undesirable elements to come and thwart the mutual understanding we have had with our Igbo brothers for years. “It is of great importance to note that we conducted appraisals of this kind in different segments of our chain link. In such fora, we will enlighten our people on the supremacy of respect for the sensibilities of their host communities to ensure healthy or good relationship with them. “Friction is only averted or avoided by mutuality in understanding the harmless dispositions of the suspicious parties, strangers or natives.
“The Fulani herdsmen are therefore grossly endangered sometimes by the spread of falsehood, rumours against them by the natives. “Sometimes the herdsmen themselves advertently or inadvertently attract the anger of their landlords by indulging in acts capable of undermining the economic activities of their farmer landowners or acts suggesting of insecurity in neighbourhoods. But very often, the situation heats up and escalates to violence by natives not being patient with the herdsmen, knowing that cattle are animals and the destruction they cause are not deliberate.” The peace initiative is coming as a relief to residents because Enugu State had been an epicentre of farmers-herders clashes, which had led to losses of tens of human lives, farmlands and other properties.