The Nation Newspaper

Tag: herdsmen

  • Herdsmen kill one, set 40 houses ablaze in ex-Gov Suswam’s hometown

    Suspected Fulani herdsmen have killed a resident of  Anyiin, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State  and set  40 houses ablaze.

    Anyiin is the village of the immediate past Governor Gabriel Suswam

    This is the third attack by herders on the farming community in 10 days

    An eye witness, Toryila Ugba,  said the hoodlums stormed the village at about 8 pm and started shooting from different directions.

    Only the intervention of the police saved the area from further destruction.

    Meanwhile,a group  Mdzough U Tiv (MUT) has accused Governor Tanko Al’ Makura of Nasarawa State of not giving Tiv living in the state enough protection.

    The group claimed that despite several warnings to the state government about planned attacks on Tiv in the state,nothing was done to prevent destruction of life and property.

    Besides,it said the governor “has refused to respond to our series of correspondence to him on our request to pay a courtesy call to his office and has also failed to reply our text messages and phone calls which were all geared towards presenting our petition to him.”

    It pleaded with  well-meaning Nigerians, the National Assembly, National Human Rights Commission and international community to urgently wade into the matter.

  • Herdsmen attacks: 17 buried in Nasarawa

    Seventeen victims of herdsmen attacks in Tiv villages in Nasarawa South have been buried in Lafia and Keana local government areas.

    Seven of the victims were buried at the Christian cemetery in Lafia and the others in a mass grave at Keana.

    Marauding herdsmen, in the last five days, killed 70 persons, including three policemen in Keana and Awe.

    President of Tiv Youth Organization Peter Ahemba said they were forced to bury the victims outside their homes, against the Tiv tradition, as the herdsmen were still laying siege to deserted Tiv villages.

    He said: “We were left with no option than to bury the victims outside their homes  (Lafia and Keana) as the Tiv villages have been sacked and the invaders are still occupying most of them. We could not risk more lives by going to bury the deceased in their homes as demanded by our tradition.

    “This is more so that the bodies had begun decomposing due to congestion at the mortuary”.

    Ahemba added that besides those buried yesterday, others were buried at different locations across Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma councils.

    The search for more casualties is on.

  • Suspected herdsmen kill 32 in Nasarawa villages

    Suspected herdsmen at the weekend killed about 32 people  in different locations across the southern senatorial district of Nasarawa state.

    The attackers reportedly struck in Tiv villages across Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma Local Government Areas of the state, leaving many others injured.

    As at yesterday, over 10,000 Tiv villagers were said to have been trapped along the Agwatashi-Jangwa road axis in Obi Local Government Area shortly after the marauding herdsmen sacked many villages including Uvirkaa, the home town of a Gabriel Akaaka, a commissioner in Governor Tanko Al-Makura’s executive council.

    Many people who fled their villages were stranded in  Lafia, the state capital apart from the over 100,000 people taking refuge in different Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), camps at Agwatashi, Aloshi, Awe, Adudu, Obi, Keana, Doma, Agyaragu, among other locations.

    Eight injured people were yesterday receiving treatment at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, (DASH), Lafia as a result of injuries sustained from the attacks. Five bodies were deposited at the hospital mortuary out of which three were released by the Police for  burial.

    President Tiv Youth Organization Nasarawa state chapter Comrade Peter Ahemba, told reporters that the entire Tiv villages in the southern part of the state were sacked, noting that most of the affected villages were being occupied by the invaders.

    he said:  “As I speak to you, seven bodies of our people killed this morning (yesterday) by the terrorists in Wurji village of Keana LGA have just been recovered and brought to Keana town by the Police. Also last night, five of our people were killed in the coordinated attacks with seven others still missing at Kertyo and Apurugh villages in Obi Local Government”.

    “Three days ago, we recorded eight deaths from similar attacks in Kadarko area, four from Aloshi axis, one person from Agberagba, all in Keana LGA. Another six persons were shot at Imon village and were rushed to Obi General Hospial as a result of which one of them later died. This is just few out of deaths we recorded within the last three days as a result of these senseless attacks”. He noted.

    The Tiv youth leader alleged that the gun-wielding herdsmen were conveyed in trucks.

    He appealed to the Nasarawa state government to stop the carnage.

    Police spokesman Idrissu Kennedy, said he was aware of attacks on Imon and some of the villages but was yet to be briefed on the number of casualties.

  • Agony in IDP camps as herdsmen attacks persist

    Persistent attacks by herdsmen in Benue and Taraba states have created a humanitarian crisis in camps where displaced persons have been sheltering, UJA EMMANUEL and FANEN IHYONGO report

    For children born in camps where people forced from their homes by herdsmen attacks have been sheltering, there is no other world. As they opened their eyes, all they could see were the classroom walls beside which their parents delivered them without medical attendants. Those classrooms are also getting smaller and smaller for the huge number of displaced persons streaming in to join the first-comers. Food is in very short supply. There is no good water, nor is there electricity. The children’s future is in danger. Their parents have no idea when they will return home, and for some, there is no home. For they have been destroyed by their attackers.

    In Benue State, the world of internally displaced persons or IDPs is gloomy. Governor Samuel Ortom has put their number at 220,000. The Nation has gathered that since New Year’s Eve herdsmen attacks have occurred in 20 local government areas of the state, including Makurdi, the capital. Houses are set ablaze, women and children slaughtered in cold blood, while crops and yam barns are burnt by the assailants.

    In some cases, the herdsmen have taken over their victims’ houses, while the owners agonise in camps, some begging food and dying of untreated ailments.

    Governor Ortom also expressed concern that there may be imminent food crisis if the displaced persons who are predominantly farmers are not allowed to return home and prepare for this year’s farming.

    There are more than 90,000 malnourished and cholera-stricken children in the camps. The Nation gathered that there is not enough food for the children. Some schools have been set ablaze by the herdsmen, it was learnt.

    The police and military seem to be helpless and overwhelmed as they cannot challenge the herdsmen who are well-armed with sophisticated weapons

    For most of the IDPs, there is pretty little they can do, except pray and hope that the attacks and killings will cease. But for how long will they continue to pray?

    Governor Ortom has advised the people to defend themselves against such attacks.

    Taraba is in no better shape. The walls of classrooms are all that keep over 14,000 IDPs safe from their attackers. Under those circumstances, women deliver without medical assistance. Food is lacking. No one knows when the attacks will end.

    But the state is in an ironic twist of fate. Taraba was given the enviable soubriquet of ‘Nature’s Gift to the Nation’ because of its huge mineral and human resources, as well as its agricultural and tourism potentials.

    As crop farmers and nomadic herders, the state’s unity and strength has been in the diversity of its over 100 heterogeneous ethnic groups. Each of the tribes has a fascinating rich cultural heritage.

    You will love their dexterous cultural dances when they dorn their colourful traditional regalia.

    The Jukun, Kuteb, Fulani,Tiv, Mumuye, Kona, Yangdan, Wurukun, Jenjo, Bandawa, Mambilla, Kaka, Kambu, Panso, Ichen and Chambam, among others, were living reasonably peaceful. Although, communal skirmishes had always occurred but the people would quickly resolve their differences, forget the unhappy past and forge ahead.

    As time went on, that peace eluded the state. The ethnic groups, which once intermarried, have become fractionalised into farmers and herders with bitter rivalry between them over grazing fields. Clashes between farmers and animal breeders resulted in the killing of hundreds of people. Many more were injured and in hospitals, while homes and pricey properties have been destroyed.

    Farmers have accused herdsmen of provocation by allowing their cattle to feast freely on their crops. They indict herdsmen of going about with AK-47 rifles and double edged machetes with which they unleash terror. The herdsmen in turn accuse farmers of rustling their cows.

    For the herdsmen, it is human blood for a cow.

    As the population of residents grows at a geometric progression, the need for land expands, not least for agricultural and livestock purposes. Thus, the crisis lingered on. The killings continued. Even troops deployed to violence prone areas became helpless. The troops could not remain there for eternity. Once they depart, it is back to square one.

    The wave of the clashes between the herders and farmers threw up new ideas on how to end the problem. The most controversial was the cattle colonies. Ranching was another popular option.

    Taraba Governor, Darius Ishaku, like his Benue state counterpart Samuel Ortom, thinks he can end the clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Taraba State through the instrumentality of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. Thus, his administration enacted the anti-open grazing law. But opposition came from the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association. In spite of the law, open grazing still goes on and the killings continue.

    Today, the attacks and killings have assumed a different, more diabolic dimension -beyond the mere skirmishes between farmers and pastoralists. Fulani herdsmen are now attacking and killing people without provocation. Every day, scores of people are maimed and killed; homes, farmlands and farm produce set ablaze. As it is in Taraba, so it is in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and Adamawa States. The canvass of bloody is wide. In January 68 people were gruesomely killed in Lau local government area by herdsmen using sophisticated guns, machetes and poisoned knives. The dead were given mass burials as flags flew half-mast.

    ”The Fulani herdsmen are not the Fulani we know,” said Stephen Ibrahim Agya, Chairman of Kurmi local government council and Chairman of ALGON in Taraba State. Witnesses said they are not the Fulani herdsmen often with quiet face, with a stick in hand, a wide hat for

    protection from the scorching sun, watching and guarding cows munch away on verdant fields. “These ones move freely with AK-47 rifles and poisoned machetes with which they unleash terror.”

    It was gathered that they often invade at dusk or middle of the night when the residents are sleeping. They open fire and disappear into the darkness like guerrilla fighters. At dawn, several bodies are counted.

    In Taraba, hell has become synonymous with herdsmen. And their fear is the beginning of wisdom.

    So, why are these Fulani herdsmen different? Why have become kidnappers, arsonists and killers? Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku said their violence is a drive for territorial control. So, why such a blind ambition to conquer and occupy other people’s territory?

    Certainly, they must be fraudulent persons beating the drum to which they are dancing. Who are those people contracting and arming them, training them to handle sophisticated weapons?

    President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed seven years ago, for the killings by herdsmen.

    So, how can we stop them and end the killings? Former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), has said the armed forces “are not neutral” in the intermittent attacks. He calls for self-defence, saying in a rare outburst that “the armed forces collude with the armed bandits that kill Nigerians.”They facilitate their movement. They cover them.”

    Danjuma spoke on March 24, at the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University Jalingo. Eleven days after, the herdsmen struck in Takum, Danjuma’s home town, killing a couple and their two kids.

    On Wednesday, herdsmen attacked Jandeikyula village in Wukari Local Government Area. The presence of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and a military panel probing allegations by Danjuma did not deter them from carrying out the onslaught.

    Victor Iortim, an inhabitant of Jandeikyula who witnessed the attack, said the attackers, numbering over 200, were carrying “rifles and cutlasses.”

    Iortim was lucky to narrowly escape death during the attack.

    “I had gone to a neighbouring village and was returning home when I sighted them. They were numbering close to 200. They were Fulani militants. They were well armed with sophisticated weapons. I quickly hid in the bush. There was no way I could call home because my telephone had no network where I was hiding,” he said.

     

  • What herdsmen have put asunder in Taraba

    The lingering clashes between itinerant herdsmen and farmers in Taraba State are taking their toll on people and properties. The clashes also triggered accusations and counter-accusations among neighbours, who, hitherto, coexisted peacefully. ROBERT EGBE examines the nature of the conflict and its dangerous trend.

    ‘Yesterday, they attacked and killed innocent people in Taraba without provocation. Today, an hour ago, they attacked some communities and killed people. Is that how people should continue to be killed?” Those were the words of Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku.

    He was lamenting the attacks of January 16 and 17 which claimed the lives of a monarch and 28 others in the villages of Gishiri, Dooshima and Danwaza.

    Not everyone agrees on the causes of and solution to the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the Northcentral. But one thing is certain: the more the problem lingers, the more people die.

    For instance, last Friday, at least 32 bodies were recovered in Jandeikyula Village in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, following a dusk attack by suspected herdsmen two days before.

    A former Special Adviser to the late Taraba Governor Danbaba Suntai, Orbee Uchiv, an indigene of Jandeikyula, told The Nation that some victims crawled into the bush “but they died of injuries resulting from gunshot wounds.”

    On January 6 and 7, 55 people were killed in Lau local government area, with several missing. At least, two hundred homes, including food stuff, were destroyed.

    Most of the bodies, that were recovered two days later from burnt houses, bush paths and nearby farmlands, were of mostly children, women and the aged.

    A mass burial was hurriedly organised by youths, as policemen and soldiers cordoned off the area.

    “Herdsmen are killing people in Lau, my state,” Governor Darius Ishaku told The Nation.

     

    Miyetti Allah

     

    The Taraba government’s claim was faulted by the Fulani community, including the umbrella body of cattle breeders – Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN).

    MACBAN cited several instances where its members were victims of cattle rustling and killings.

    According to the cattle breeders, the conflict in Taraba began as communal clashes but has “since metamorphosed into a coordinated operation to exterminate our people.”

    On January 14, the group, through its National Secretary, Baba Usman Ngeljarma, called for “a federal judicial commission of inquiry into all these killings so as to unravel the truth and the offenders.”

    Ngeljarma said an unprovoked attack on Fulani communities on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State last June “left about 700 people killed, over 20, 000 cattle rustled or killed with over 300 communities burnt down.”

    According to him, the victims were sedentary pastoralist Fulani families “who have practiced the much deceitfully advocated ranching for decades.”

    “In Lau, 24 Fulanis were also killed. In Numan, Adamawa State, about 82 of our women and children were slaughtered in cold blood by Bachama militias. In Kajuru, Kaduna State, 96 were killed.

    “All these were committed in a spate of seven months, beginning from June 2017 to January 2018. All the killings were done by ethnic groups who see themselves as indigenes and the Fulanis as marauders, even where the latter have been settled for nearly a hundred years.”

    In his report entitled: “The resurgence of pastoral conflicts in Plateau State”, Cheta Nwanze of SBM Intelligence, highlighted how such violence could occur.

    He observed that the formation of ethnic militias by communities to protect themselves can sometimes, lead to preemptive attacks on herdsmen.

    Nwanze stated that these non-Fulani militias in Plateau, Nassarawa and Taraba States, work together to create a ‘buffer zone’, which may trigger reprisal “on settler Fulani communities, many of whom were not culpable for the atrocities committed by their nomadic kinfolks.”

     

    The $200m lawsuit

     

    Another Fulani group, Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, has filed a suit against the Taraba and federal governments at the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) court in Abuja.

    The group is seeking $200 million as compensation for the losses the Fulani suffered, following the June violence.

    According to it, at least 732 people were killed or missing, while 25,000 cattles were killed.

    The complainant’s counsel, Yusuf Dankofa, a professor of Law, said the attacks were carried out in a “well-coordinated and organised manner, fit to be aptly described as ‘genocide.’

     

    Herders and Global Terrorism Index

     

    Several local and international reports have identified Fulani militias as major participants in the conflict.

    According to the Australia-registered Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the Fulani, who number about 20 million across West and Central Africa, account for around 90 per cent of herders.

    IEP’s 2016 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) said a small subset of the herders in the Middle Belt, including Taraba, undertook more attacks and were responsible for more deaths than Boko Haram in 2016.

    The GTI said: “These attacks take place in the context of ongoing tension between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers throughout the region and which are exacerbated by resource scarcity and desertification.

    “Only a small subset of herders – the so-called Fulani extremists – engages in attacks, and there is confusion as to whether there is any communication or coordination between attackers.”

    The IEP described Fulani militas as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in 2014, killing over 2,500 people in Nigeria between 2012 and 2016. They used machine guns and attacks on villages to assault and intimidate farmers.

     

    Fed Govt’s response

     

    On January 17, the National Economic Council (NEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, approved a 10-member working committee on the herdsmen/farmers conflicts.

    Speaking on February 20, the vice president said the Federal Government had deployed mobile policemen and military formations and units in Benue, Taraba and the flash points in the Northcental zones.

    He said: “Accordingly, more troops were deployed and the Commander, 707 Special Forces Brigade, was reassigned to Taraba State for effective command and control of troops operating in the entire Benue/Taraba general area.

    “And next week, the Nigerian Army will flag-off Exercise Ayem Akpatuma (Cat Race), to checkmate the activities of armed bandits and militias in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa and environs.”

     

    Lingering ethno-religious conflicts since 1991

     

    Although the current conflict in Taraba has pitted herders against farmers, there have been other kinds of serious conflicts in the state since its creation in 1991, largely because of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature.

    Taraba has over 80 ethnic groups and tribes, including: Mumuye, Ichen, Wurkum, Mambilla, Kuteb, Chamba, Jukun, Yandang, Fulani, Jenjo, Kunini, Lo, Ndoro,Kambu, Kaka, Bandawa, Mung, Tiv, Zo, Bambuka, Jibu and Jole.

    However, Hausa is understood and commonly spoken by most indigenes of the state, irrespective of ethnic grouping.

     

    Controversy over Operation Ayem Akpatuma

     

    Following, last Wednesday’s attack, the women in Takum community protested the killings and alleged “brutality and collusion by the military.”

    Claiming that their husbands and sons were illegally detained in Takum Barracks, they demanded to see the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col Ibrahim Gambari, who has been accused by the governor of bias.

    The leader of the protesters, Esther Yakubu, told The Nation: “Houses are being searched by soldiers. Kitchen knives and cutlasses are being taken away. Children are being harassed. Youths, looking strong enough to defend the community are whisked away. Any youth, whose names appeared on a ‘gossip list’ as Youth Defence Vanguard has been arrested.

    “Our people are now left at the mercy of herdsmen whose business of killing and destroying lives and property continues.”

    The Takum Local Government Area Chairman, Shiban Tikari, urged the people to defend themselves.

    Takum is the home of a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

    The council chief alleged that the attacks and killings have worsened despite Ayem AKpatuma operation.

    He said: “These killings have continued, and instead of stopping the attacks, the army is busy harassing innocent people in spite of the influx of herdsmen in Takum.”

     

    Row over Danjuma’s comments

     

    Lt.-Gen.  Danjuma spoke the mind of the Taraba government and many of its residents On March 23, when he accused the military of taking sides in carrying out the Ayem Akpatuma operation.

    The General called on the citizens of the affected states to defend themselves from herdsmen attacks.

    Gen Danjuma, who spoke at the maiden Convocation of the Taraba State University (TSU) in Jalingo said: “The Armed Forces are not neutral. They collude …with the armed bandits that kill people and kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movement. They cover them.”

    But the Army described the statement as “most unfortunate”. Its spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Texas Chukwu, said contrary to Gen. Danjuma’s accusation, the army remained impartial in its handling of crises.

    He said: “The public is notified that Nigerian Army personnel have had to pay the supreme price for ensuring the sustenance of security in Taraba State.  For instance, a gallant non-commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army was beheaded on 16 March 2018 in Takum, Taraba State by criminal elements.

    “It is noteworthy to state that at the inception of the Ayem Akpatuma operation, the government did not cooperate with the Nigerian Army due to the Army’s stance to remain absolutely neutral in the herdsmen-farmers crisis.  The Nigerian Army will continue to remain as such.”

     

    Taraba government backs Danjuma

     

    Ishaku backed Danjuma’s allegation that the armed forces “are not neutral” in the attacks on innocent Nigerians by “armed bandits.”

    Last Wednesday, the governor told the military panel investigating the allegation, headed by Maj-Gen. John Nimyel that his kinsmen were “in full support of the call on Nigerians to defend themselves.”

    According to the governor, Gen. Danjuma’s remarks should be critically looked into rather than criticised.

    He said: “I didn’t sleep last night. At 1am, I was woken up by a distress call on another herdsmen militia attack. Yesterday, fortunately, the military from Takum came in to help. They battled till this morning.

    “In the morning, they counted 15 bodies. Some are in the hospital in Sondi. But as you are aware, now you can go to Sondi. This is not fake news. I spoke with the commanding officer of the army there this morning.

    “Also this morning at 3am, the military in Takum went about beating up youths, arresting them from their homes and taking them to the military barracks.

    “The people are being killed and yet you are arresting them. Where is the fairness in this matter?”

    A statement to “correct misrepresentation of” the General’s views signed by the governors’ media aide, Bala Dan Abu, said the military had been ‘sloppy’ in tackling the crisis.

    The statement reads: “It is not surprising that Gen. T.Y. Danjuma’s candid assessment of the sloppy attitude and handling of the security situation in the country by the military has generated a huge amount of reactions.

    “Gen. Danjuma’s comments were not on the security situation in Taraba, his home state, alone. The worries he expressed were about the poor handling of the herdsmen killings that have taken place and have continued in all parts of the country by the Nigerian military. His call for vigilance was meant for all Nigerians.”

    On the claim by the Army and the Defence Ministry that the governor was not cooperating with the troops, Abu said they lied against lshaku.

    He said: “They had at different times claimed that the governor did not cooperate with the military deployed to the state and that they never received reports of misconduct from the governor against the soldiers deployed to the state. Again, these claims are wrong and callous.

    “The truth is that all efforts made by Governor lshaku to get the military contingent to the state to show commitment and fairness in their handling of the crises in Taraba State were ignored.

    “Letters written by his administration to the highest security authorities drawing attention to these lapses were also ignored while military personnel posted carried on as if the governor did not exist.”

     

    The letters

     

    The Nation learnt that the governor wrote at least four letters to the Federal Government on the conflict.

    One of the letters, dated July 5, last year, was addressed to the vice president, who was then the Acting President.

    Entitled: Re:Report about security situation in villages around Kashimbilla Dam, the letter reads: “I am in receipt of a letter copied to me by contractors handling the Kashimbilla Dam Project in Takum Local Government Area of my state drawing attention to the precarious security situation in villages surrounding the Kashimbilla Dam.

    “…the report of the contractors attached herewith has been confirmed to be the true situation of things around the dam which has resulted in the killing of scores of people by suspected Fulani militias who are moving between our borders with Cameroon and home state.

    “I therefore wish to appeal to Your Excellency to direct the Nigerian Army, the Navy and Air Force to establish a permanent security base around the darn area to check the menace of these Fulani militia that are capable of sabotaging the evacuation of the 40 megawatts of power that is now in progress and create general instability within the surrounding communities.”

    Another letter dated August 11, last year and addressed to the National Security Adviser (NSA), requested that the Commanding Officer of the 93 Battalion, Takum, Lt.-Col. Gambari, be moved from Taraba, for his “disappointing conduct, in spite of huge security challenges in the state.”

    The letter, citing a case of collusion, said some herdsmen who attacked communities in Takum and Ussa Local Government Areas on May 6, last year, were later overpowered by security agents and their 224 cows seized and given to Gambari as a ploy for him to track down the culprits.

    But, the military allegedly released the cows to the culprits without the knowledge of the governor.

     

    Open Grazing Prohibition/

    Ranches Establishment Law

     

    Taraba’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law came into effect on January 24. It was, however, rejected by Fulani groups and the Miyetti Allah, which has threatened a law suit to stop its implementation.

    On June 12, last year, the association described the law as a plot to subdue the Fulani tribe and also to undermine and restrict activities of the Fulani tribe in the state.

    But the government insists it can help stem the tide of violence.

    In a statement tagged: “General outlook of the security challenges in Taraba State between 2012 and 2018”, Abu described the law as the government’s idea and weapon for dealing with the ugly situation that the crises had assumed.

    He said: “Those insisting that the law is the cause of the relentless attacks in several states in the country need to be reminded that Plateau, Kogi, Enugu and several other states that have not passed the law prohibiting open grazing have also been victims of the ferocious aggression of the herdsmen.”

     

    No winner, no vanquish

     

    For as long as the crisis persists, all the ethnic groups in the state bear the brunt.

    In May 17, 2017, over 15,000 people were reportedly displaced, following violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Bali Local Government Area.

    Last month, over 5,000 sought shelters in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp on the Mambilla Plateau.

    A 2017 report by The Guardian (UK) indicated that the rising animosity between pastoralists and farmers led to some farmers burning their land after harvesting their crops. It was to deny herdsmen any farmland to graze on.

     

    Falana suggests a way out

     

    In a statement in January, rights activist and senior advocate Femi Falana (SAN) suggested the immediate disarming of the herders as the first step to ending the incessant clashes.

    He said: “The much-delayed ranches should be established while all feuding communities are reconciled. With the establishment of ranches and abattoirs in a few states, meat would be prepared in large scale and distributed throughout the country and possibly exported.”

    Falana kicked against the creation of militia or vigilance groups to tackle the menace “as this would only lead to further crises and killings.

    His words: “The establishment of ranches is what has been done in Botswana which is the largest producer and exporter of meat in Africa.

    “That southern African country of 2.2 million people with a cattle population of over 3 million has successfully stopped violent clashes between farmers and cattle herdsmen. Once ranches and abattoirs are established in Nigeria, all controversial anti-grazing laws would become spent.”

  • ISIS fighters as herdsmen?

    Who are the killer-herdsmen? They are gunmen trained by the late Libyan President Muammar Gadaffi, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday. The president spoke at the Abuja House in London when Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited him.

    The gunmen, he said, escaped into Nigeria and other West African countries after Gadaffi’s death. Responding to Welby’s comment on the herdsmen and farmers’ clashes in some parts of the country, Buhari said: “The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region.

    “They were trained and armed by Muammar Gadaffi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. Herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe a cutlass to clear the way, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons. The problem is not religious, but sociological and economic. But we are working on solutions.”

    The gunmen trained by Muammar Gadaffi joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq and they have returned to West Africa after their defeat. I must express my frustration as Nigerians continue to refer to “unknown gunmen” waging violence in North-Central Nigeria. Why should gunmen be unknown for years? They kill innocent people and destroy their means of livelihood and yet they are unknown. We have security agents mandated to ensure the safety of all citizens and within all military and paramilitary agencies, we have intelligent units and yet these killers remain unknown. Hamid Umar told me in AYOUROU in Niger Republic-Mali border during my investigation that ‘ISIS members returning from Syria and Iraq have moved from Mali to Niger to Nigeria and across West Africa.’ ISIS fighters have arrived Nigeria.

    Why are Nigeria’s cattle herders turning to jihad? Like most gunmen in so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, which operates along the sand-swept borderlands where Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and others. The transition of herdsmen from vigilantes protecting their cows to jihadists capable of carrying out complex attacks is a story Africans and Western powers would do well to heed, as their pursuit of violent extremism in West Africa becomes ever more enmeshed in long-standing ethnic and clan conflicts.

    Up to 6 000 Africans who fought for the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group in Iraq and Syria could return home, the African Union’s top security official warned late last year, calling on countries to prepare for the threat. Smail Chergui, the AU’s commissioner for peace and security, said African nations would need to work closely with each other and share intelligence to counter returning militants. “There are reports of 6 000 African fighters among the 30, 000 foreign elements who joined this terrorist group in the Middle East,” Chergui told a meeting in Algiers, according to the Algeria Press Service news agency. “The return of these elements to Africa poses a serious threat to our national security and stability and requires specific treatment and intense co-operation between African countries,” he said.  Tens of thousands of foreign fighters joined the Sunni extremist group after it seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in 2014. But the group has suffered a host of losses to both its territory and military capabilities in the last year.

    Terrorism is one of the biggest crimes against humanity. Every such crime deserves to be named appropriately, and nations experiencing such owe it to their citizens to act swiftly and decisively against terrorists.

     

    • By Inwalomhe Donald,

    Benin City

     

  • Herdsmen kill 30 in Taraba, Benue 

    Herdsmen have, again struck in Taraba and Benue States, killing 30 people in separate attacks yesterday.

    The presence of Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris and a military probe panel in Taraba State yesterday did not deter the marauding herdsmen from carrying out their onslaught.

    They killed 25 residents of Jandeikyula village in Wukari local government area last night.

    Taraba State police spokesman David Misal, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) , confirmed the attack and killings.

    Governor Darius Ishaku said: “As I am talking to you, I didn’t sleep last night. At 1am, I was

    woken up by a distress call on another herdsmen militia attack.

    “Fortunately, yesterday, the military from Takum came in to help.

    They battled till this morning. They counted 15 bodies, some injured ones are in the hospital in Sondi,” Ishaku said.

    Victor Iortim, an eye-witness, said the attackers, numbering over 200, were carrying “rifles and cutlasses.”

    “I went to a neighbouring village and was returning home when I sighted them. They were numbering close to 200. They were Fulani militants. They were well armed with sophisticated weapons.

    “I quickly hid in the bush. There was no way I could call home because there was no telephone network where I was hiding,” he said.

    Chairman of Wukari local government, Daniel  Adi, who also confirmed the attack,  said “many people have been killed.”

    Adi, who spoke to reporters on the telephone on his way to the area said: “I don’t have the casualty figure now. But many people were killed in the attack

    “I am on my way to the place, I will give you the details after visiting the scene,” he said.

    Special Adviser to Governor Ishaku on Students’ Affairs,

    Samson Tor-Musa, who hails from the area, confirmed the incident. He said 25 bodies had been recovered.

    A former Special Adviser to the late Governor Danbaba Suntai, Orbee Uchiv, an indigene of Jandeikyula, said:  “They invaded the village on Wednesday at 6pm and opened fire on innocent persons without provocation,” he said.

    Uchiv said the number of deaths would have been more, but for the intervention of soldiers on patrol around the area who were coming from Gbeji, a neighbouring town in Benue state where the herdsmen

    killed four persons on Tuesday.

    In neighbouring Benue State, suspected herdsmen killed five persons in separate attacks.

    In Ukember- Agya, Logo Local Government area, two persons were killed by the militia at about 2 am during an attack on the farming community.

    Chairman of Logo Local Government Richard Nyajo, said the herdsmen came heavily armed and ransacked the community, setting houses ablaze

    In Agbobouhol, a suburb of Makurdi, the state capital, the attackers shot two people dead in broad day light.

    Panicky Wadata residents fled the area in droves.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu confirmed the killings and said Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni had visited the place.

    He added that a detachment of riot police had been deployed in the area

    In Jande Ikyuran village, Lumbur Ward ,Ukum local Government Ares in Benue North East Senatorial District , three people were killed in an early morning attack.

    Principal  Secretary- General of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Benue state Comrade Boga Abuul said the invaders stormed the farming community located along Anyiin- Wukari road at about 5 am.

    Abuul said the invaders surrounded Jande Ikyura village and set houses ablaze before shooting and killing those who attempted to escape.

    He said many houses were set ablaze and property worth millions of naira destroyed by the herdsmen.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu said he was not aware of the killings in Jande Ikyura village.

     

  • Herdsmen kill 25 in Taraba

    Suspected Fulani herdsmen on Wednesday killed 25 people in Taraba State.

    The presence of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and a military probe panel in the state did not deter the marauding herdsmen from carry out their onslaught on people of the state.

    The herders killed 25 residents of Jandeikyula village in Wukari local government area on Wednesday night.

    The spokesman of the Taraba State police command, David Misal, confirmed the killings.

    Speaking to The Nation on Thursday, the state Governor, Darius Ishaku, said he did not sleep on Wednesday night when he received news of the killings.

    “As I am talking to you I didn’t sleep last night. At 1:00 a.m., I was woken up by a distress call on another herdsmen attack.

    “Fortunately, yesterday, the military from Takum came in to help.

    They battled the attackers till this (Thursday) morning. In the morning, they counted 15 bodies, some injured ones are in the hospital in Sondi,” Ishaku said.

     

  • Herdsmen: Buhari failed woefully in tackling insurgency – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to admit that he has failed woefully in his promise to end insurgency in the country.

    In a statement issued on Thursday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party urged the President to stop the habit of resorting to excuses, particularly in the international arena.

    President Buhari had on Wednesday in London, told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, that the killings by Fulani herdsmen in some states in Nigeria were being perpetrated by some fighters trained and equipped by the slain Libyan Leader, Col. Moummar Gaddafi.

    The statement said: “By running to Archbishop Justin Welby to declare that the insurgents and marauders pillaging our people are fighters from late Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, President Buhari confirms the position of Nigerians that he is incapable of handling the security challenges of our nation.

    “We invite Nigerians to recall that in November 2017, President Buhari had informed the Nigerian community in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire that Gaddafi’s fighters were responsible for the escalation of Boko Haram insurgency.

    “This time, Mr. President has revealed that the killer-herdsmen ravaging our nation and killing our people are from Libya.

    “If the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government knew all these while that the marauders and insurgents are invaders, then why is it engaging them in dialogue, reportedly paying ransoms and even considering the amnesty option for them.

    “In the same vein, Nigerians should demand explanations from President Buhari on why his administration has been asking the victims of marauders’ attacks in various states, particularly, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Nasarawa, Zamfara and Plateau, among others, to learn to accommodate, if it knows that the attackers had links with Libya.

    “Our take remains that President Buhari and his dysfunctional APC should simply admit that they have failed to safeguard the lives of our people as well as the territorial integrity of our nation.

    “We therefore urge Nigerians to continue to be at alert and support one another in these trying times, irrespective of ethnicity, creed or class, as we collectively work to salvage our nation from the misrule of the incompetent APC, come 2019.

    “As a party, we are already working on resetting the agenda of our nation and we are determined to reinvent the wheel of our national fortunes.”

  • Six killed in fresh herdsmen attack in Nasarawa

    At least six persons were on Wednesday killed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa State.

    The gunmen attacked Kadarko town in Obi local government area of the state and killed four people.

    Several people were also injured in the attack.

    An eyewitness said market activities were shut down following the attack.