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Tag: herders

  • Herders decry poor budgetary support from NEDC

    Herders decry poor budgetary support from NEDC

    The Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN), has decried poor budgetary support from the  North East Development Commission (NEDC), requesting that the commission  to significantly incorporate livestock development into its 2026 policies and programmes.

    KACRAN made the appeal in a statement signed by its National President Hon. Khalil Mohd Bello. 

    The association acknowledged the significant achievements of the NEDC in rebuilding and rehabilitating the North East but flayed the profound impact of insecurity and insurgency on the region’s pastoralist communities.

    The statement reads: “Pastoralists operate primarily in the bushes, the epicentre of the conflict, making them and their livestock the most vulnerable. Countless pastoralists have been killed, and hundreds of thousands of livestock—their sole means of livelihood—have been stolen or rustled.

    “A critical shocking assessment reveals that North East pastoralists have been at the receiving end of the commission’s programmes. We have received minimal direct benefits from the annual billions allocated for the region’s development projects, as these projects mainly focus on urban infrastructure (houses, roads, bridges) that do not and would never address our unique desired needs.”

     KACRAN went on to  appeal to the NEDC leadership to address this imbalance with immediate and long-term actions.

    Read Also: Herders proffer solutions to crisis with farmers

    “Just as the NEDC builds and distributes houses, we urgently request the Commission to procure and distribute thousands of livestock to our members whose herds were stolen or destroyed by insurgents.

    “We call for the provision of animal feed, water points, relief materials, and palliative support for our internally displaced members who have been completely ruined by the insurgency.

    “We urge the NEDC to make a serious and dedicated commitment to Livestock Development in its 2026 Policies and Programmes. This is the only way to ensure fairness and compensate for the structural neglect our communities have faced since the Commission’s creation.

    “KACRAN believes that by engaging in robust livestock development, the NEDC can truly align with the spirit of fairness and inclusive development, thereby helping the North East pastoralist communities rebuild their livelihoods and contribute fully to the region’s economic recovery.”

    He said: “Our investigation has so far uncovered massive revenue losses amounting to over $300 billion in unaccounted crude oil proceeds over the years. This represents one of the most troubling cases of economic sabotage our nation has ever faced.”

    The committee, he said has  “made far-reaching recommendations to end this long-standing menace. These include: The strict enforcement of international crude oil measurement standards at all production and export points.

    “Mandating the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to deploy modern, tamper-proof measuring technology or returning this function to the Department of Weights and Measures under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.

    “The deployment of advanced surveillance systems, including drones, to assist security agencies in combating oil theft. The creation of a Special Court for Crude Oil Theft to ensure swift prosecution of offenders and their collaborators.

    “Full implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to empower local communities and reduce sabotage.

    “Ceding abandoned oil wells to the NUPRC for allocation to modular refineries to support local production and job creation.

    “The committee also seeks an expanded mandate to track, trace, and recover stolen crude oil proceeds, both locally and internationally. Forensic reviews show over $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion remain unaccounted for across different audit periods.

    “This is a national call to action. Nigeria cannot afford to continue losing trillions to corruption, inefficiency, and criminal networks. I remain committed, alongside my colleagues, to ensuring accountability, recovery, and reform within the oil and gas sector.”

  • Herders kill five hunters in Benue

    Herders kill five hunters in Benue

    Suspected armed herdsmen in Okpomaju community in Otukpo killed five hunters on Wednesday evening and injured several others.

    The Och’Otukpo Odu, Chief John Eimonye, and leaders of the armed herders had on Tuesday resolved, among other things, to ensure peaceful coexistence and expose criminals found amongst the two parties.

    This came after one herdsman and two hunters had been killed.

    Read Also: Fed Govt reaffirms commitment to peace, security

    However, the renewed hostility accompanied by massive killings and alleged destruction of houses at Okpomaju seems to indicate that the peace deal has collapsed.

    According to an indigene, “the hunters were at home in Okpomaju when the armed herdsmen, numbering 12, stormed the village with sophisticated weapons and shot indiscriminately into the air.

    “In the process, they killed Peter, popularly known as JPG, and Moses, while others ran in different directions into the nearby bushes with gunshots. So far, we have recovered three dead bodies from those who ran to the bush, making a total of five. The fifth was recovered near Odudaje stream.

    “We are at the graveside, burying one of the victims and awaiting the other bodies from the mortuary. We are with over 200 Otukpo hunters.”

  • NGO alerts Adamawa to influx of herders, seeks police deployment

    NGO alerts Adamawa to influx of herders, seeks police deployment

    A pro-peace non-government organisation, Peace Architecture Dialogue (PAD) has alerted authorities to an influx of herds of cattle fleeing insecurity in Borno State into Shelleng in the southern fringes of Adamawa State.

    The organisation, which put the number of herds at about 15,000, expresses worry that the development has heightened tensions between farming communities and herders, “in an area known for recurrent skirmishes between both groups.”

    The PAD Chairman in Adamawa State, Vidon Jaule, said during a press briefing in the state capital, Yola, that there is a potential for conflict, and sued for the deployment of more security personnel in the local communities while urging proper enlightenment of farming and herder communities on collaborative conduct against crisis.

    Read Also: Lagos shuts churches, bars, hotels over noise pollution

    Stressing that criminality has been fueled by the lack of security presence in most local communities, he said, “Government as a matter of urgency, needs to prioritise the establishment of more police outposts in flash points of farmer-herder hostilities in the seven local government areas of Numan, Lamurde, Demsa, Guyuk, Mayo-Belwa, Girei and Shelleng as part of early warning response to potential conflict ahead of the farming season.”

    According to him, “There’s a well documented complaint among communities in those LGAs of the challenge of not having police presence at the right places.”

    He said his organisation believes in the need for state policing and strengthening of security apparatus at local level by adopting local policing measures that provide greater involvement of local vigilante groups and other non-state actors.

    He recalled that PAD which has been working for harmony between herders and farmers in Adamawa State since 2014, has assisted in handling 201 incidents in the seven LGAs, which could have resulted in conflict between farmers and herders.

  • Five killed, many injured in suspected herders’ clash in Benue

    Five killed, many injured in suspected herders’ clash in Benue

    There is tension in Benue State after suspected herdsmen killed five persons in a night attack on Ayilamo and Mahanga settlements, Tombo ward, in Logo Local Government.

    The Nation learnt that the armed herdsmen launched the attack on the farming communities at about 10:20pm.

    Besides the five persons that were killed on the spot, many others sustained injuries and were referred to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi from Ayilamo Health Centre.

    An eyewitness, Tersoo Apera, told The Nation on the phone that the herdsmen launched the attack on Mobile Barracks located on Anyiin- Ayilamo road, in Mahanga settlement and killed two persons in a thatched house .

    Read Also: Farmers/herders clash: Tinubu will tackle insecurity, Benue Senator Zam reveals

    They later moved to Ayilamo, headquarters of Tombo ward and shot three persons dead.

    The monarch of the area, Chief Enoch Ikyumen, who visited the health centre for first-hand information, appealed to the state and federal governments to order security agencies to protect his subjects.

    The Security Adviser to the governor, Chief Joe Har, confirmed the incident.

    Those killed in the attack are: Ayev Jôgunô (Mbavihi-Mbazar), Faiga Mwuese Apefan (Mbazar), Msendoo Tertese Vaachia (Mbagum), James Mhen Nyerga Iorliam (Tse-Ihyoon-Iwendyer) and Orgbee Mnguerorga (Tse-Nyajo-Mbaiwem).

  • How to to end farmers – herders clashes, by varsity Dons

    How to to end farmers – herders clashes, by varsity Dons

    To end the incessant clashes between farmers and herders in the north central, a lecturer at the Department of Political Science Department, University of Abuja,  Dr Olowu Olagunju has stressed the need for mediation through collaboration with traditional rulers and community leaders.

    The university don also called for the deployment of security agents and complementing it with relief materials for the affected victims in their various designated Internally Displaced Persons camp.

    He spoke during a roundtable to review the book: The Root Cause of Farmers-Herders Crisis in North Central Nigeria written by Plangshak Suchi and Sallek Musa of the Department of Sociology, University of Jos.

    In the book, published by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, the authors noted that recent drought and desertification occasioned by the impact of global warming had culminated in an increase in movement of herders southward in search of pasture for their herds due to resource scarcity.

    Read Also: NISS blames climate change for farmers-herders clashes

    This southward movement, according to studies identified by the authors, engendered farmland encroachment and inevitably generated conflicts.

    The authors also mentioned population growth and poor town planning, porous borders and ineffective border control among others as possible factors in the escalation of conflicts between farming communities and herders.

    Reviewing the book during the roundtable organised by the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja and support by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation West Africa, olabunju decried the increase in the rate of killings that have been attributed to farmers-herders crisis in states like Benue and Plateau.

    The don stated that lack of political will on the side of the government to prosecute the killers had continued to fuel the killings.

    He noted that the farmers-herders conflict in the north central zone of the country had led to the deaths of over 60,000 Nigerians since 2001.

    She said: “The lack of political will by government is one of the reasons fueling the crisis. The political will to arrest and punish the offenders adequately is a motivating factor for continued attacks in Nigeria.

    “Resolving conflict involves the commitment of all the stakeholders from the Federal, state, local government level and civil societies.”

  • I ’ll end farmers, herders incessant clashes, says President

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday made a fresh appeal for accommodation and tolerance among herders and farmers across the country.

    He said this was necessary to end the incessant clashes between the two sides in some parts  of the   country.

    Receiving leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) who visited him in Abuja, Buhari pledged to give equal respect to all citizens irrespective of their ethnic, religious and geopolitical backgrounds.

    He urged the herders to support him in the task of bringing lasting peace to the country.

    He asked state governors to work with the Minister of Agriculture, who he said, had been mandated to work out a solution with the states by which herders will have access to water for their livestock and farmers security against destruction of their farmlands.

    “Whatever it will take, I am determined to bring peace between farmers and herders. I urge you all to be patient and exercise restraint while we are working for an enduring solution,” Buhari was quoted by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,Malam Garba Shehu, as telling the delegation.

    He added: “Before the Benue and Taraba crises, I called the Minister of Agriculture and the Governor of Central Bank and asked them to work with the state governors on rediscovering the gazetted cattle routes, clear of farmlands that had made for peace during the First Republic.”

    MACBAN, led by Alhaji Mohammed Kiruwa, informed the President that the body had sent the delegation to endorse his bid for a second term on account of the administration’s achievements in office which included the successful clampdown on kidnapping and cattle rustling; and the fight against terrorism and corrupt elements in the society.

    Alhaji Kiruwa said President Buhari’s personal qualities of honesty, integrity and  unparalleled commitment to the unity and progress of the nation also informed his association’s support for a renewal of his tenure.

  • I ’ll end farmers, herders incessant clashes, says President

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday made a fresh appeal for accommodation and tolerance among herders and farmers across the country.

    He said this was necessary to end the incessant clashes between the two sides in some parts of the country.

    Receiving leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) who visited him in Abuja, Buhari pledged to give equal respect to all citizens irrespective of their ethnic, religious and geopolitical backgrounds.

    He urged the herders to support him in the task of bringing lasting peace to the country.

    He asked state governors to work with the Minister of Agriculture, who he said, had been mandated to work out a solution with the states by which herders will have access to water for their livestock and farmers security against destruction of their farmlands.

    Read also: EFCC arrests 6 suspected internet fraudsters

    “Whatever it will take, I am determined to bring peace between farmers and herders. I urge you all to be patient and exercise restraint while we are working for an enduring solution,” Buhari was quoted by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, as telling the delegation.

    He added: “Before the Benue and Taraba crises, I called the Minister of Agriculture and the Governor of Central Bank and asked them to work with the state governors on rediscovering the gazetted cattle routes, clear of farmlands that had made for peace during the First Republic.”

    MACBAN, led by Alhaji Mohammed Kiruwa, informed the President that the body had sent the delegation to endorse his bid for a second term on account of the administration’s achievements in office which included the successful clampdown on kidnapping and cattle rustling; and the fight against terrorism and corrupt elements in the society.

    Alhaji Kiruwa said President Buhari’s personal qualities of honesty, integrity and unparalleled commitment to the unity and progress of the nation also informed his association’s support for a renewal of his tenure.

  • Our Girls; Herders; N8trillion ‘theft’

    It is now four years + since our Chibok Girls were viciously kidnapped on April 15, 2014. We await the release of the remaining Chibok girls and the Dapchi girl-child, 15 year old, Leah Sharibu.

    Why is obvious preventive action not taken until after preventable misery and deaths? Are we to applaud the Armed forces for its widely announced counter terrorism adventures in states bloodied and battered and lacking assistance against a terrorist -style onslaught of herders? ‘Better late than never ’ will never bring back the dead, the crops and be parents to the orphans. Where is the apology for trivialising or ignoring the war? Besides wide publicity before the mission encourages the marauding herders to transfer their nefarious activities to other non-militarised states until the military‘whirlwind’ blows over. By the activities of our gallant soldiers, the armed forces reputation as protector against terrorists will be retrieved and Nigeria’s farmlands will be recovered and returned to their original owners or their descendants, survivors of the vicious onslaught.

    We must never forget, even if we forgive, that this is one war which was allowed to escalate into a massacre spread across 26 states by the failure of government to engage the enemy years ago and especially during the escalation of Fulani herder hostilities in the last 3 years. Farm deaths appear meaningless on the corridors of Abuja politics and do not easily tap into the milk of human kindness and human decency. I care little for Lai Mohammed’s submission that the herders violent is not ethnic. Enough rhetoric. Not all of us are fools! However, whatever it is or is not is irrelevant to the solution. Killers must urgently stopped before we are all killed. Let the army bring us results. We want action even as yet another 5-10 killed after the VP’s visit. Did he not leave any security behind for the people?

    When will we mature democratically enough to hold FAF ‘Free And Fair’elections with nothing beyond the heated word? A political party membership that lacks the discipline to hold peaceful, violence-free, murder-free internal elections is not fit to participate in multiparty elections. No vote is worth the death or the cheating of others. Do not vote for any party with any history of violence in 2019.

    The wedding is over. Let the marriage begin!! Lessons for Nigeria. Meticulous organisation and respect for crowds. Security without oppression. No buntings or flower arrangement obscuring views in church or at the banquet. Throw out obstructive buntings at functions.

    ‘Government Stole/misplaced from Government’ N8,000,000,000,000+ ie N8+trillion naira equal to an annual budget in five years, according to forensic auditors KPMG released by the National Economic Forum. In some countries the citizens get paid a bonus when the economy does well or free electricity when there is excess. In wealthy Nigeria the ‘white collar’ steal it all. The heads of the relevant MDAs at the time should be quizzed and the guilty removed for incompetence and/or corruption, and then prosecuted for Machiavellian financial terrorism, have their personal assets stripped and be jailed. NNPC, FIRS and NIMASA, Customs, the Ports et cetera are all run by human beings who must be held responsible. Pay all money into TSA, not Agency accounts and credited by paper or commuter trail to the Agency? Who made such Agencies have leaders who are so arrogant in accumulating funds and so corruptly irresponsible in passing the funds to the cheated federal government and the Nigerian citizen crying for justifiable infrastructure –denied because there is no money? Ask how many Fellow Nigerians are dead and dying or deprived of a rightful need from books in school to drugs and the latest equipment in hospitals and better roads everywhere because of this stolen/misdirected/mismanaged money? Now ask how honest are your Agency leaders? Again this should have been anticipated by preemptive ‘Regular Weekly Forensic External Auditing’. As wealthy as we really are why should Nigerians have to continue to bear the cost of waiting five years to know they has been shortchanged by 20% of the budget annually by their own agencies not to mention stupid policies that idiotically give away our national oil blocks to individuals forever? Do they know what they have done to the lives of almost every single Nigerian? We shout about unemployment and employability-both solved with adequately funding good education and job creation and health services. On the hands of these financial criminals as CEOs, are the woes of the naira collapse, the blood and tears of 50+ millions of students denied good comprehensive education, bursaries and scholarships nationwide even as they beg for free or subsidized tuition. Women want free Antenatal care. When that money is finally added to the nation’s budget, if ever, and recovered we require a N1,000,000,000,000 or N1trillion invested each in health, education, roads, railways, electricity, housing, Sovereign Wealth Fund and drawing down the Foreign Debt. It could be partly converted to foreign exchange to increase the Foreign Reserves and reverse the exchange rate back towards N150 as a real strategy to improve the value of salaries. This is a financial catastrophe and nobody cared. This government’s move requires ‘Recovery of funds, Prosecution and Prison’ for the guilty Agency staff. Now ask ‘How honest is your Agency today?’ audits should be brought up to date 2018.

     

    • NB: Uncover ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019 -SDG 16.

  • Herders, farmers clashes not religious, says Fed Govt

    CLASHES between herders and farmers are not religious or ethnic crises as many have been made to believe, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said yesterday.

    Mohammed, who spoke yesterday at a special town hall meeting on herders/farmers clashes, explained that the clashes were not unconnected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics and criminality.

    He warned that Nigerians must not allow criminals to exploit their anger and emotion to continue to perpetrate their evil scheme.

    He noted that governors and council chairmen of major flash points would be panelists in the next edition of the meeting .

    The Mayeetiallah group, represented by Baba Othman Ngelzarma, maintained that it would be difficult to make herders adopt the ranching arrangement as pushed by the representative of the Christian   Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Peter Ogunmuyiwa and Rev. Father Chris Bologo, who represented John Cardinal Onayekan.

    The clerics posited that it was time for a shift from the old way of rearing livestock to the modern way, which is ranching.

    The dialogue had seven ministers: Defence (Monsur Dan Ali), Interior (Ibrahim Dambazau), Agriculture (Audu Ogbe) as well as those of Minister of Water and Minister of Environment.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, in his opening remark, said: “I want to say that the recent spike in the number of clashes between farmers and herdsmen are not unconnected with demographic, environmental, social and economic dynamics, as well as criminality. It will be simplistic and indeed a distortion to attribute the clashes to ethnic and religious reasons, and I say this without prejudice to what this meeting will come up with.

    “Let me explain, starting with demography. In 1963, Nigeria’s population was 52 million. Today, it is about 200 million, which is four times the old figure. Yet, the land space has remained the same, or has even shrunk if we take into consideration the effect of desertification, to which Nigeria loses 400,000 hectares of land every year.

    “Against this background, the contest for land and other natural resources is bound to be keener, and the friction, more! There is also the case of the Lake Chad, which has shrunk from 25,000 square kilometres to 2, 500 square kilometres. At its peak, it was supporting 35 million people from many countries in Africa. Today, most of those people have moved south in search of greener pastures, further exacerbating the contestation for increasingly scarce natural resources – and the resultant friction.

    Mohammed added: “There is also the issue of sheer criminality, e.g. cattle rustling. For those who might be tempted to view the clashes between farmers and herdsmen from the ethno-religious prism, I will cite two instances to debunk such postulation. Zamfara State is probably the epicentre of cattle rustling in Nigeria. Those who rustle cattle are Muslims. The owners of the cattle they rustle are Muslims.

    “Both groups most likely belong to the same ethnic group. Then, there is the case of Kebbi State, where 70 per cent of those who are in jail are there due to the clashes between farmers and herdsmen. The farmers whose crops are eaten by cows are Muslim Fulani, and the herders whose cows eat the crops are Muslim Fulani: Same religion. Same ethnicity. Yet, clashes still occur, to such a level that people land in jail!

    “I have cited these examples so that we can be open to interrogating the real causes of the incessant clashes that have captured national and international attention and turned former neighbours to bitter enemies, so that together we can help to evolve a lasting solution to this crisis.”

    The minister also listed the various measures that have been taken by the Federal Government to stop “these senseless killings and curtail the criminality that has fuelled the clashes as well as cattle rustling and other acts of insecurity, especially in the worst-hit areas, which  include deployment of troops”.

     

     

     

     

  • Herders, farmers strike peace deal in Enugu

    Cattle breeders and farmers in Enugu have entered into an agreement that will ensure peaceful co-existence.

    The meeting was attended by leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Enugu State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and other stakeholders.

    Briefing reporters, Southeast Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, said the gathering was strategic to foster peace.

    He said the meeting was to dispel insinuations that herders were in the state to terrorise host communities.

    “The essence of this meeting is to bring farmers and herders together for interaction so that we will know ourselves as well as dispel rumour that we are here to terrorise.

    “We are here to feed our cattle. This meeting will bring us together so that farmers will feel at home when they see cattle breeders.

    “The cattle breeders will equally take members of their host communities as their brothers and sisters,” Siddiki said.

    He said the meeting was attended by state chairmen of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in the region.

    “Since most of the grazers migrate from one state to the other, we brought state chairmen here.

    “The essence is to inform them that whenever something happens and it involves somebody that comes from another state, I will call the chairman to resolve it.

    “The agreement is that we will promote peace between ourselves through this type of meeting, which will be held regularly,” Siddiki said.

    He said any issue beyond the groups’ leaders would be directed to the Central Peace Committee at the state level.

    “We also made it known that we have a Peace and Security Committee at the Government House.

    “Whenever something we cannot resolve happens at the local level, we take it to the committee for final decision,” Siddiki said.

    AFAN’s Chairman Mr. Sunny Watarali said the meeting ushered in better understanding between the groups.

    He noted that both groups need to respect the culture and tradition of each other.

    Watarali said host communities would not allow cows messed up their source of drinking water.

    “The grey areas have been sorted out. Both parties are to respect each other; respect the culture.

    “For example, you do not carry cows to urinate in the river. This is the source of drinking water.

    “Again, if for any reason the cow does anything wrong, our people should be patient and report, rather than resorting to self-help.

    “If we can do that, such mutuality will bring about better understanding and peace,” he said.

    Watarali said the meeting was expected to be replicated in rural areas.

    “Subsequent meeting will be held at local governments where farmers live.

    “I believe if we do that, we will achieve peace,” he said.