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Tag: killer herdsmen

  • Killer-herdsmen and the logic of accommodation (2)

    Killer-herdsmen and the logic of accommodation (2)

    In an era of an enormous explosion in the population of both humans and cattle, open grazing has proven to be an unsustainable approach to cattle breeding and rearing because of its inherent potentials for conflict. This is not a question of ethnicity or religion. It is simply an economic matter. Provided their herders do not, cattle do not discriminate between grass and crops. They are all food. Neither do they discriminate between the farmlands of Hausa, Fulani, Tiv, Biron, Igbo, Edo or Yoruba. Every farmland they are led through is suitable for feeding. Cattle are equal-opportunity feeders. No one can blame them.

    Now, as for herdsmen, you would expect some modicum of respect for crops on farmland and for the principle of non-trespass on the economic privacy of others. But when legitimate fodder is unavailable, and their cattle are on the verge of starvation, ethical concerns could take the back of the burner. It is a case of competing economic demands where they can get away with it. And since they are not sure that they will easily get away with it, they prudently, even if immorally, arm themselves with AK-47s. It’s the philosophy of armed robbery, isn’t it? Armed robbers claim no moral consciousness. They simply want your good and in case you resist, they must prepare against your stubbornness.

    Farmers, on the other hand, are like homeowners who are defenseless against armed robbers. They only rely on the rule of law and on its enforcers for protection. And while the latter have shirked their responsibilities for far too long in the matter of the atrocities committed by herdsmen, whether foreigners or indigenes, the recent events have called attention to the need for government to wake up.

    Predictably, state governments have taken up the challenge against the backdrop of violence against their residents by herdsmen, with policies ranging from anti-open grazing laws to various forms of accommodation regulations. One such accommodation regulation is the registration of herdsmen in some states and regulations governing sanctions when cattle destroy farm crops. Some states also include laws against cattle rustling or killing by farmers.

    One problem with such regulations is their effectiveness. Chief Olu Falae has been on the receiving end of herdsmen brutality with his kidnapping and the repeated destruction of his crops to the latest case of arson on his farm. While he is certain that herdsmen were responsible, the Police have not been able to identify and arrest the culprits as far as we know. Therefore, the various state efforts to regulate open grazing and prevent conflict and destruction are simply ineffective band-aids on a festering national wound.

    It is because of the realization of the futility of such approaches that some state governors and legislators have gone to the extreme of banning open grazing within the confines of their states. Can we really blame them? They were elected to protect the lives and properties of their citizens and they are simply doing their job how best they know under the circumstances that they face.

    Miyetti-Allah has rejected anti-open grazing laws because it is inimical to the economic well-being of their members. Herdsmen are pastoralists by nature and culture, we are told. Is this true? Herdsmen may be cattle breeders and cattle rearers. But does this commit them to a life of nomadism. The ancient Hebrews, the ancestors of the present citizens of the State of Israel, were cattle breeders and herders. They were as nomadic as our Fulani herdsmen. But Israelites have modernized the art of cattle breeding. As the Minister of Agriculture has also observed, the cattle that is made to travel hundreds of miles on foot are not happy cattle at the end of the journey, that is, if they make it to the end. And what about the waste of the potentials of young men and women condemned to a lifetime of nomadism? Culture is simply not a good argument for open grazing.

    If not open grazing, then, what is the alternative?  Perhaps Miyetti-Allah is not opposed to alternatives to open grazing. Perhaps what they are against is finding and negotiating those alternatives prior to the promulgation of anti-open grazing laws. Granted, but states have limited alternatives. Most of their residents, for whom they are politically and responsible, are farmers, not herders. Again, it is not a matter of ethnicity. They simply do not feel a sense of obligation to non-residents. This is the political reality of a federal system. It is why in the United States, citizenship of the country does not confer on residents the same privileges in different states. For example, non-residents pay higher tuition when they register as students in state colleges other than their own. Thus, a student resident of Maryland pays in-state tuition in Maryland state colleges while a student from New York pays higher non-resident tuition when registered in a Maryland state college.

    Having come to an appreciation of its indispensable role as an arbiter in a matter of great importance that can tear the nation apart, the Federal government has now taken up the matter. But what are the options being canvassed?  First, it came up with the idea of grazing reserves, which was first presented as a bill to the National Assembly in 2008. Second, it toyed with the idea of ranching. Third, it seems that the government has now settled on the idea of cattle colonies.

    Two points are important to note here. First, each of the suggested alternatives-grazing reserves, ranching, cattle colonies-requires the availability of a large landmass and ownership of land across the nation is governed by different customs and conventions. Therefore, the federal government will not find it easy to acquire land simply by fiat. It is gratifying that the Minister of Agriculture has, for all intents and purposes, come to terms with this reality. Second, herdsmen, whose culture and economic needs require to engage in cattle breeding, are only one link in the chain of links in the industry. There are other links including the wealthy businessmen who invest in livestock farming and employ the herdsmen, just as we have commercial famers and the farmhands who are the face of the industry.

    Commercial farmers buy their farmlands from landowners or they lease those lands from state governments. In addition, commercial farmers buy their equipment and the services of agronomists, soil scientists, and technicians. They also use extension services provided by state governments. The question then is this: which of the alternatives of grazing reserves, ranching, and cattle colonies best approximates commercial crop farming?

    Frankly, I do not see the difference between cattle colonies, ranching, and grazing reserves except for the size of the former which, we are told, will be big enough to accommodate several cattle owners. However, as it has become clear since it was thrown up by Minister Ogbeh, beside the substance of its merit or demerit, the idea of cattle colony evokes a negative feeling, and rightly so. Why would a post-colonial enclave, which has continuously decried its colonial history and raged against internal colonization of various kinds, reopen old wounds with this unnecessary flirtation with creating cattle colonies, which Nigerians have mischievously labelled Fulani colonies? Branding is everything and labeling is a huge part of branding.

    Ranching is the global best practice in commercial cattle breeding. Minister Ogbeh says that ranching is “of an individual venture” for herdsmen and investors. But is there a good reason ranching in our peculiar condition cannot be a cooperative venture? After all, we have commercial farming as cooperative ventures. Instead of accommodating several herdsmen and their cattle in colonies, it is more productive to organize them in ranches as cooperatives.

    Miyetti-Allah’s argument against ranching is that it is technologically driven, and the Nigerian climate is unsuitable for ranching. If the latter is true, won’t the same objection apply to cattle colonies? Regarding technology, however, the federal government should deploy the resources it has promised for cattle colonies to ranching with better outcomes of healthy cattle, prosperous herdsmen and a peaceful and united nation.

     

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  • Killer-herdsmen and the logic of accommodation (1)

    Killer-herdsmen and the logic of accommodation (1)

    The brutal and heartless violence inflicted on Benue farming communities by Fulani herdsmen over the New Year holiday is the latest in what has become a perennial crisis of bloodletting. The pictures were simply too gruesome for my sensibilities and I quickly deleted all after seeing a few. We may look at the incident and earlier ones and the prospective solutions from several perspectives: common humanity, human rights, and legality and constitutionalism.

    How was it possible for human beings with souls and hearts to inflict such mortal damages on their fellow human beings? What could possibly excuse such beastly attacks comparable only to a lion mauling its victim? As they lifted their machetes, did those human slayers see goats or human beings like themselves? And why did they think that whatever grievances they had justified the wanton and senseless massacre?

    One official of Miyetti Allah, the socio-economic and cultural organization representing the herders, argued that the herders were defending their livelihood against farmers and cattle rustlers. Assume that the herdsmen traced their loss of 1000 cattle to the individuals they macheted to death, was that a reasonable excuse? What are the courts for? What is policing for? When their cattle destroyed farmlands and ruined the economic hopes of farmers, did they react by macheting their cattle to placate the farmers? Did they not attack the farmers for complaining against their cattle? Didn’t that mean that they value the life of cattle more than they value the life of human beings? These are the questions that swirl in my head as I ponder the mindset of the creatures who were capable of such callousness.

    Perhaps my sensitivity to violence against humanity beclouded my thinking. Perhaps there was more to it that I had ignored. Could there be a moral excuse, if not a religious one, which I was missing? So, beside what the defenders of the attacks may describe as a “myopic idealism” of common humanity on my part, let me try and look at other angles: economic survival, human rights, legality and constitutionalism, which have featured in one form or the other in the discourse of justification.

    Economic survival is one justification that has been attributed to the herdsmen in respect of their attack on defenseless fellow citizens. Miyetti Allah observed that the anti-open grazing law promulgated by Benue State government gave its members no option because their livelihood was at stake.  By nature, they are pastoralists. They must move with the seasons to find pasture for their cattle and money for their pockets. That they ran into farmers’ lands, fed their cattle on farmers’ crops was just unfortunate. That has never been their intention. But they must survive economically. Do farmers have the right to economic survival? Sure, they do. And do farmers own the land on which they have their farms? Yes. So, whose economic survival interest has moral weight and ought to prevail in case of conflict? Your guess is as good as mine.

    How about human rights? Again, we must concede that both farmers and herdsmen have human rights, which must be respected. But in case of conflict, governments also have the responsibility of intervening and adjudicating competing interests in the light of known facts.  The most relevant human rights to our discussion include the right to life and the right to freedom of movement. The latter has been brought up in the case of Miyetti Allah against the Benue State government. With respect to the right to life, however, there is clearly a case to be made against anyone, herdsmen or farmers, who takes the life of an individual without due process. The United Nations has established this. As the President has vowed to bring every culprit to justice, we are waiting and watching.

    Freedom of movement is the second. But clearly this right cannot be absolute. Just as in the case of the argument for economic survival, if the right to freedom of movement is asserted in contexts in which it conflicts with the right to economic survival of another individual, it is the responsibility of the political authority to intervene. That is presumably what Benue State government did by passing its anti-open grazing law.

    But Miyetti Allah presumably does not depend on the elusive concept of human rights. The group invokes the legal and constitutional frameworks of the country to lay claim to the rightness of its cause. It argues that the Nigerian constitution provides for the free movement of citizens as well as goods and services across state lines and no state government has a right to stop them. Passing anti-grazing law by one state, it argues, is a violation of this legal provision. Therefore, it demands that the federal government must call Benue State government to order. It is not argued that the state has no jurisdiction. Only that since free movement of goods and services is on the exclusive list, any state law that conflicts with it must therefore be rendered null and void.

    Both arguments are unfortunately unsound. The provision for the freedom of movement of individuals is, again, not an absolute one and its validity in specific contexts must be determined by its effect on other civil rights, including the right property. The land use act vests the ownership and control of lands in states. States allocate lands to individuals and families as needed. Furthermore, some family lands with requisite titles have had to be grandfathered at the inception of the land use act. Therefore, the right of such families to their land must be weighed against the constitutional right to freedom of movement. And where I have an allocation from my state, my title to it gives me a right which cannot be violated by any trespasser even when I acknowledge that he or she has a right to freedom of movement.

    The same logic applies to free movement of goods and services. Just as there is a civil right to free movement of goods and services, so there is a civil right to property which may not be violated by appeal to the right to move goods and services. This is so simplistic a logic that it’s hard to imagine how it did not occur to Miyetti Allah, which based its argument on the constitutional provision for free movement of goods and services.

    In the long-gone era when herdsmen respected the sanctity of the right of farmers to their farmlands and crops, no governor or premier thought of legislating against open grazing. But no governor can in good conscience stand by to watch the economic lifeline of his or her citizens destroyed by cattle with impunity.

    Importantly, the right of the farmer against such impunity is divinely sanctioned, as Exodus 22:5 declares: “If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and let them stray and they graze in someone’s field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard.” As my Pastor explains, “even the scripture is against open grazing and invasion of other people’s farmlands by cows.” I am almost certain that there is a corresponding injunction in the Holy Koran.

    Hopefully, the federal government is not shirking its responsibility in this matter. The Presidency was unfortunately slow to respond. As I observed last week, presidential leadership required that the president address the nation and visit the state to reassure affected citizens that they have a compassionate father who cares for their wellbeing.

    However, all is not lost. The president hosted the Benue delegation and appealed to them to exercise restraint to allow the government to work on solutions. But he also appealed to them to accommodate their fellow citizens. It’s unclear what this means. Accommodate them as their cattle graze on farmlands? Or accommodate their need for open grazing provided they do not trespass on farmlands? Or yet still could the president be thinking ahead and appealing to Benue and other states to be open to the solutions being proposed by the federal government? I will examine these solutions next week.

     

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  • Killer Herdsmen: Impunity Rides Again – Wole Soyinka

    Killer Herdsmen: Impunity Rides Again – Wole Soyinka

    It is happening all over again. History is repeating itself and, alas, within such an agonizingly short span of time. How often must we warn against the enervating lure of appeasement in face of aggression and will to dominate! I do not hesitate to draw attention to Volume III of my INTERVENTION Series, and to the chapter on The Unappeasable Price of Appeasement. There is little to add, but it does appear that even the tragically fulfilled warnings of the past leave no impression on leadership, not even when identical signs of impending cardiac arrest loom over the nation. Boko Haram was still at that stage of putative probes when cries of alarm emerged. Then the fashion ideologues of society deployed their distancing turns of phrase to rationalize what were so obviously discernable as an agenda of ruthless fundamentalism and internal domination. Boko Haram was a product of social inequities, they preached – one even chortled: We stand for justice, so we are all Boko Haram! We warned that – yes indeed – the inequities of society were indeed part of the story, but why do you close your eyes against other, and more critical malfunctions of the human mind, such as theocratic lunacy? Now it is happening again. The nation is being smothered in Vaseline when the diagnosis is so clearly – cancer!

    We have been here before – now, ‘before’ is back with a vengeance. President Goodluck Jonathan refused to accept that marauders had carried off the nation’s daughters; President Muhammed Buhari and his government – including his Inspector-General of Police – in near identical denial, appear to believe those killer herdsmen who strike again and again at will from one corner of the nation to the other, are merely hot-tempered citizens whose scraps occasionally degenerate into “communal clashes” – I believe I have summarized him accurately. The marauders are naughty children who can be admonished, paternalistically, into good neighbourly conduct. Sometimes of course, the killers were also said be non-Nigerians after all. The contradictions are mind-boggling.

    First the active policy of appeasement, then the language of endorsement. El Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, proudly announced that, on assuming office, he had raised a peace committee and successfully traced the herdsmen to locations outside Nigerian borders. He then made payments to them from state coffers to cure them of their homicidal urge which, according to these herdsmen, were reprisals for some ancient history and the loss of cattle through rustling. The public was up in arms against this astonishing revelation. I could only call to mind a statement by the same El Rufai after a prior election which led to a rampage in parts of the nation, and cost even the lives of National Youth Service corpers. They were hunted down by aggrieved mobs and even states had to organize rescue missions for their citizens. Countering protests that the nation owed a special duty of protection to her youth, especially those who are co-opted to serve the nation in any capacity, El Rufai’s comment then was: No life is more important than another. Today, that statement needs to be adjusted, to read perhaps – apologies to George Orwell: “All lives are equal, but a cow’s is more equal than others.”

    This seems to be the government view, one that, overtly or by implication, is being amplified through act and pronouncement, through clamorous absence, by this administration. It appears to have infected even my good friend and highly capable Minister, Audu Ogbeh, however insidiously. What else does one make of his statements in an interview where he generously lays the blame for ongoing killings everywhere but at the feet of the actual perpetrators! His words, as carried by The Nation Newspapers:

    “The inability of the government to pay attention to herdsmen and cow farming, unlike other developed countries, contributed to the killings.” The Minister continued:

    “Over the years, we have not done much to look seriously into the issue of livestock development in the country….we may have done enough for the rice farmer, the cassava farmer, the maize farmer, the cocoa farmer, but we haven’t done enough for herdsmen, and that inability and omission on our part is resulting in the crisis we are witnessing today”

    No, no, not so, Audu! It is true that I called upon the government a week ago to stop passing the buck over the petroleum situation. I assure you however that I never intended that a reverse policy should lead to exonerating – or appearing to exonerate – mass killers, rapists and economic saboteurs – saboteurs, since their conduct subverts the efforts of others to economically secure their own existence, drives other producers off their land in fear and terror. This promises the same plague of starvation that afflicts zones of conflict all over this continent where liberally sown landmines prevent farmers from venturing near their prime source, the farm, often their only source of livelihood, and has created a whole population of amputees. At least, those victims in Angola, Mozambique and other former war theatres, mostly lived to tell the tale. These herdsmen, arrogant and unconscionable, have adopted a scorched-earth policy, so that those other producers – the cassava, cocoa, sorghum, rice etc farmers are brutally expelled from farm and dwelling.

    Government neglect? You may not have intended it, but you made it sound like the full story. I applaud the plans of your ministry, I am in a position to know that much thought – and practical steps – have gone into long-term plans for bringing about the creation of ‘ranches’, ‘colonies’ – whatever the name – including the special cultivation of fodder for animal feed and so on and on. However, the present national outrage is over impunity. It rejects the right of any set of people, for whatever reason, to take arms against their fellow men and women, to acknowledge their exploits in boastful and justifying accents and, in effect, promise more of the same as long as their terms and demands are not met. In plain language, they have declared war against the nation, and their weapon is an undiluted terror. Why have they been permitted to become a menace to the rest of us? That is the issue!

    Permit me to remind you that, early in 2016, an even more hideous massacre was perpetrated by this same Murder Incorporated – that is, a numerical climax to what had been a series across a number of Middle Belt and neighbouring states, with Benue taking the brunt of the butchery. A peace meeting was called, attended by the state government and security agencies of the nation, including the Inspector General of Police. This group attended – according to reports – with AK47s and other weapons of mass intimidation visible under their garments. They were neither disarmed nor turned back. They freely admitted the killings but justified them by claims that they had lost their cattle to the host community. It is important to emphasize that none of their spokesmen referred to any government neglect, such as refusal to pay subsidy for their cows or failure to accord them the same facilities that had been extended to cassava or millet farmers. Such are the monstrous beginnings of the culture of impunity. We are reaping, yet again, the consequences of such tolerance of the intolerable. Yes, there indeed the government is culpable, definitely guilty of “looking the other way”. Indeed, it must be held complicit.

    This question is now current, and justified: just when is terror? I am not aware that IPOB came anywhere close to this homicidal propensity and will to dominance before it was declared a terrorist organization. The international community rightly refused to go along with such an absurdity. For the avoidance of doubt, let me state right here, and yet again, that IPOB leadership is its own worst enemy. It repels public empathy, indeed, I suspect that it deliberately cultivates an obnoxious image, especially among its internet mouthers who make rational discourse impossible. However, as we pointed out at the time, the conduct of that movement, even at its most extreme, could by no means be reckoned as terrorism. By contrast, how do we categorize Myeti? How do we assess a mental state that cannot distinguish between a stolen cow – which is always recoverable – and human life, which is not. Villages have been depopulated far wider than those outside their operational zones can conceive. They swoop on sleeping settlements, kill and strut. They glory in their seeming supremacy. Cocoa farmers do not kill when there is a cocoa blight. Rice farmers, cassava and tomato farmers do not burn. The herdsmen cynically dredge up decades-old affronts – they did at the 2016 Benue “peace meeting” to justify the killings of innocents in the present – These crimes are treated like the norm. Once again, the nation is being massaged by specious rationalisations while the rampage intensifies and the spread spirals out of control. When we open the dailies tomorrow morning, there is certain to have been a new body count, to be followed by the arrogant justification of the Myeti Allah.

    The warnings pile up, the distress signals have turned into a prolonged howl of despair and rage. The answer is not to be found in pietistic appeals to victims to avoid ‘hate language’ and divisive attributions. The sustained, killing monologue of the herdsmen is what is at issue. It must be curbed, decisively and without further evasiveness.

    Yes, Jonathan only saw ‘ghosts’ when Boko Haram was already excising swathes of territory from the nation space and abducting school pupils. The ghosts of Jonathan seem poised to haunt the tenure of Mohammed Buhari.

  • Killer herdsmen not part of us – Miyetti Allah

    Killer herdsmen not part of us – Miyetti Allah

    …condemns Benue killings

    A Fulani socio-cultural association, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has distanced itself from killings that occurred in Benue State.

    The association said whoever perpetrated such crime is not a member of the socio-cultural group.

    They condemned the recent attack in Benue state, leading to death of innocent people including women and children.

    The group, describing the perpetrators of the evil act as irresponsible elements said the Fulanis are peace loving people.

    In a statement issued at the weekend by the National Publicity Secretary of the association, Alhaji Yusuf Ardo, said the killings are unfortunate and condemnable to all.

    He emphasised that Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore is an association which uphold peace, love, unity and harmony in the country, adding that they have never supported violence in the society and they would never do so any time, any day and any were in the country.

    “We are peace loving people, we believed in love for one another. Any Fulani Pastoralist that doesn’t believe in peace is not part of us,” he added.

    However, the association commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his prompt action on the matter by sending the Hon. Minister of interior, Gen. Abdulrahaman Danbazau (RTD) to the area.

    The group further appealed to security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the ugly incident and bring them to book.

    They urged individual groups and individuals going about making false allegation against the association to desist from the act.

    “It is because of our peace loving that made the association challenge the anti-grazing law in court, we believed in judiciary not violence,” It read.

    The association called on all Fulani Pastoralist living in Benue and other parts of the country to remain calm and be law abiding citizen, urging the Federal government to also look into the causes of the crisis in states like, Adamawa, Taraba, Kaduna, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau states so as to have a lasting solution in those areas, particularly the issues of anti-grazing laws and others involving Fulani Pastoralist in the country.

  • Ex PDP ministers call for action against kidnappers, killer herdsmen

    •Pray for Buhari’s speedy recovery

    Cabinet ministers that served under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called on the federal government to take decisive actions against the activities of kidnappers and killer herdsmen in the country.

    The ex ministers, who met in Abuja on Monday bemoaned the deteriorating security situation in the country, particularly the activities of armed robbers, kidnappers and killer Fulani herdsmen.

    They prayed for President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly recover from his ailment to enable him return to the county to carry out his duties.

    The ex ministers however said they were not unmindful of Buhari’s call for the impeachment of the late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua in 2010 when Yar ‘Adua was away in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.

    A former Special Duties Minister, Taminu Turaki who spoke on behalf of his colleagues said, rather than calling for his impeachment, the PDP would continued to pray for his recovery.

    Turaki said, “People behave differently in different situations. We are not unaware of the point President Muhammadu Buhari made when Yar ‘Adua was sick.

    “For us at the Former Ministers Forum, we wish him speedy recovery. We want him to come back and continue the job for which he persistently fought to be elected and for which he was elected.

    “We want him to come and continue because we want to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election and not anybody else”

    The group also blamed the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government for the deteriorating security situation and the polarisation in the polity along ethnic, tribal and religious lines.

    Turaki continued, “The forum however observes with great concern the deteriorating security situation in this country particularly the increasing spate of kidnapping, armed robbery and the unchecked menace of herdsmen that regularly kill, rape and vandalise farmlands across the communities.

    “The forum also notes that as a result of the inept leadership of the APC led federal government, Nigerians have never been so polarised along regional, tribal, ethnic religiuos and other divides and we feel that this is really most unfortunate.

    “The PDP made the supreme sacrifice to make Nigeria one and ensured that our indivisibility as a people and as a country was not compromised.

    “That was why our presidential candidate in the 2015 election conceded defeat to president Muhammad Buhari, which singular act, contrary to the expectation of pessimists, ensured that Nigeria remained one country”

    The Forum queried the incessant raids on the Kaduna residence of the immediate past Vice President, Namadi Sambo, by security agents.

     

    “The Forum once again wish to condemn in very clear terms the  persecution and decimation of the opposition and the unwarranted invasion of the residence of the immediate past Vice President, Namadi Sambo and the continued harassment and detention of key members of the opposition”, the ex ministers added.

     

    They charged the APC led federal government to be alive to its  responsibility to the Nigerian people.

     

    The ex minister restated their loyalty to the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the PDP and urged the critical organs of the party to continue to support the committee.

     

    “We have said that we are working in tandem with other organs and tiers of the party. The party has taken a decision that whatever happens, we will remain committed to the ideals and vision of the PDP.

     

    “We believe very stongly that tbe judgement of the Supreme Court, which is comming sometime next week, will unite the party more than dividing us.

     

    “We have resolved to remain committed to the ideals, visions and mission of the PDP and we are determined to join other organs of the party in revitalising the party into a virile and more constructive opposition”.

     

    END

  • Fed Govt to report killer-herdsmen to African Union

    Fed Govt to report killer-herdsmen to African Union

    To the Federal Government, itinerant herdsmen are ‘illegal’ aliens. As part of efforts to check their influx, there are plans by the government to take their matter to the next African Union (AU) Summit

    The Federal Government will take the case against invading foreign herdsmen who are killing Nigerians to the African Union (AU) at its next summit.

    This is to force their countries of origin – especially in West Africa – to prevent their illegal entry into the Nigeria Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Audu Ogbeh alleged said yesterday.

    The government has repeatedly that most of the herdsmen who kill farmers across the country are invaders from other lands.

    Ogbeh spoke yesterday at a Town Hall meeting organised in Abuja where ministers gave account of their stewardship before a cross-section of Nigerians.

    He said the move had become necessary as a result of the incessant crises between farmers and herdsmen across the country.

    Ogbeh expressed regret that most of the violent herdsmen who attack farmers and damage their farmlands were foreigners from neighbouring West African countries.

    The minister said that ranching was a sure way of reducing the disagreement which would in turn eradicate the old and outdated wandering style of rearing cattle.

    He said: “The conflict between farmers and herdsmen is a serious security issue. We are going to table the matter at the next AU conference.

    “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is leading the way. Most of the cows and the violent herdsmen you see are not from Nigeria.

    “Those of them who carry AK 47 come from far away countries and our borders are open. So, we are trying to get every country in West Africa to contain their own cattle and we will deal with our own here.

    “We do not want the conflict. So,  we have to deal with it.’’

    On rice importation, Ogbeh said the Federal Government had information that eight ships were on their way loaded with low quality rice heading to the Republic of Benin to be smuggled into the country.

    The minister said the government was planning to reduce the prices of local rice to ensure affordability and availability – all aimed at crashing smugglers’ activities.

    He said Nigeria  imported 580,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand and India in 2015 at  $410, 000 dollars per tonne, but the figure dropped to 58,000 tonnes last year.

    Ogbeh said the total cost of the 580,000 tonnes was $238 million but was reduced to $24 million within one year.

    He said: “We have 20 giant rice mills for an average capacity of 100 tonnes a day. We will sell them at 60 per cent discount to make it easy for women, cooperative societies and youths.

    “We will distribute another 27 palm oil mills and we will bring vegetable oil mills for distribution too.’’

    Ogbeh, however, appealed to citizens to be patient with the government, noting that it was working assiduously to ensure food price reduction.

    The Minister of Budget and Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said the ministry had empowered no fewer than 174,160 youths out of the 200,000 selected for the N-Power programme.

    The N-Power programme recruits and trains young unemployed graduates as teachers, agricultural extension workers and health support workers among others.

    He said that all beneficiaries from 36 states had been engaged and receiving payments as part of the implementation of the N-Power programme.

    The minister said the N-power was being implemented under the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) as promised by President Buhari during his campaigns to help the poor and vulnerable people.

    Udoma said: ‘‘Hence, in the 2016 Budget, we voted N500 billion for the SIPs.

    ‘‘These projects are being implemented by the Office of the Vice- President, with my ministry as the accounting Ministry and Department Agency (MDA) for the programme.’’

    Udoma said that so many people had also benefited from the  Cash Transfer Programme, the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

    He said that the Cash Transfer Programme was aimed at providing targeted transfers to poor and vulnerable households, with the final aim of graduating them out of poverty.

    ‘‘So far, 35 states have been engaged in the programme by signing its MoU and 30,000 households with validated Bank Verification Number (BVN) have been paid in the first nine states.

    ‘‘Payments to address backlogs are currently ongoing.’’

    Besides, he said that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme was designed to increase the enrolment and completion rates at the primary school level.

    The minister said it was called home-grown because it relied heavily on the local value chain from the small holder farmer in the community to the accredited caterer in the same community.

    He said: ‘‘Twenty six states have so far been engaged with the programme by carrying out their capacity building workshops with the aim of establishing their multi-sectoral teams and determining the delivery flow in their states.

    ‘‘Of these 26 states, home-grown school feeding has commenced in seven states while cook-pupil mapping has been carried out in 16 states.

    ‘‘So far, 11,937 cooks have been selected, trained and engaged, and have commenced feeding the pupils; 1,051,619 pupils are currently being fed in 8,487 schools across the seven states.’’

    Udoma further said that GEEP had so far disbursed a total of 57,000 soft loans across 28 states to various beneficiaries.

    ‘‘GEEP aims to provide soft loans to artisans, traders, youth, entrepreneurs and market women among others”, he said.

    The minister said that the SIP would continue under the 2017 Budget entitled: “The Budget of Recovery and Growth,” which has just been passed by the National Assembly.

    He said the budget would consolidate on the gains of last years’ budget, including earmarking about 31 per cent for capital projects.

    Udoma said: ‘‘The budget was prepared on the basis of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and contains many projects that will stimulate growth in the economy such as the social housing fund and the Special Economic Zones programme.”

    According to him, the ministry had followed up with the development of a more comprehensive medium term – ERGP 2017 – 2020, saying: ‘‘ERGP will take us out of recession to a strong, diversified, inclusive, and sustained growth.

    ‘‘The Plan will help us fire on multiple engines of agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, services etc., and not just the single engine of crude oil production.

    ‘‘It sets out our policy direction for the economy over the medium-term, and serves as a guide for investors and businessmen.”

    The minister assured that President Buhari would deliver on his promises of tackling corruption, restoring security and fixing the  economy.

     

  • Ajimobi charges police to tame killer-herdsmen, kidnapers

    Ajimobi charges police to tame killer-herdsmen, kidnapers

    Oyo State governor, Senator AbiolaAjimobi, has appealed to the police authority to clamp down on the murderous herdsmen and kidnappers disturbing the peace of the country with the same intensity it crushed the Boko Haram insurgents.

    The governor made the appeal through his Deputy, Chief Alake Adeyemo, who received the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Southwest, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, at the executive chamber of the Governor’s Office in Ibadan, on Thursday.

    Ajimobi restated the need for the police to continue to collaborate with other security and intelligence agencies across the country to overcome the menace of kidnappers and herdsmen ravaging the country.

    Emphasising the need for unity and peaceful co-existence among citizens, he said it was only in an atmosphere of peace that businesses could thrive and investors attracted.

    Ajimobi said:  “Our first priority on assumption of office in 2011 was to foster peaceful atmosphere in the state. We are happy today that Oyo State is one of the most secured in the country.

    “We want to appeal to the police authority to replicate the collaborative efforts employed in overcoming the Boko Haram menace in battling herdsmen crisis as well as the recent spate of kidnapping in the country”.

  • Killings: ‘Govt left us at killer herdsmen’s mercy’

    Killings: ‘Govt left us at killer herdsmen’s mercy’

    • Southern Kaduna cries out

    Following the incessant attacks on predominant Christians communities of Southern part of Kaduna State by suspected Fulani herdsmen, leading to killings of scores in the last few months, the affected people have cried out that.

    Blaming both the federal and state government of abandonment and being left at the mercy of killers herdsmen, they, vowed that they may be forced to resolve to self-defence if urgent measures are not put in place to stop the killings.

    Southern Kaduna people under the auspices of Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), in a statement by its National President, Barrister Solomon Musa in Kaduna on Monday lamented that the government was treating them as if Southern Kaduna does not deserve its attention, sympathy or intervention.

    According to SOKAPU, “Godogodo communities once again came under very fierce, terrifying, brutal, savage and barbarous attack by Fulani herdsmen without provocation of any nature from Saturday 15th October, 2016 to Sunday afternoon. This is despite the frantic calls for help from the beleaguered villagers to those constitutionally saddled with the task of safeguarding their citizens.

    “The barbarians wreaked maximum havoc and destruction by killing an uncountable number of our people. So far, the locals have been able to identify not less than 40 corpses aside from the several other corpses burnt beyond recognition. Virtually all houses have been burnt in Godogodo. Property worth hundreds of millions destroyed while crops have been grazed by cattle and the rest destroyed by the invaders. Yet, governments at the Federal and State levels appear quiet and noncommittal. We have been abandoned, deserted and neglected.

    “SOKAPU is also curious that the attacks on villages in Godogodo started since May 2016 but has been left to linger despite the Government’s explanation that it spends N200 million monthly on security in the state.

    “From the previous attacks on Sanga Local Government to the current attacks on Godogodo towns which haven’t shown any sign of diminishing, lend credence to the fact that cattle rustling receives more attention from the monthly N200 million supposedly spends on security in Kaduna State than on marauding armed herdsmen in Southern Kaduna.

    ‘It will appear that we have been abandoned, deserted and neglected. We do not deserve the intervention or sympathy of the Federal or State Governments. Security personnel are posted to the main highways only; from April to date, it does not appear to be any form of intelligence gathering, any form of surveillance, any form of proactive measures to forestall future occurrences; any form of intervention by government.

    “From April to date, neither NEMA nor SEMA has seen it fit to rehabilitate, resettle or to bring any kind of relief materials to the victims of the attacks in the area. No relief materials, no IDP camps; no protection for our villages. What have we done to deserve this? Is it because of who we are? Why have we been abandoned, deserted and neglected? Will this have happened if it is elsewhere? Are we part of Kaduna State? Are we part of Nigeria? If we are not, we then deserve our state and our nation. We can stand on our own.

    “More nauseating is the added fact that in villages like Ninte, Akwa, Ungwan Anjo, and Antang  – where the people had been sacked from their villages, the armed herdsmen have permanently taken over the villages and boldly grazing their herds on the farms of the villagers. With thousands of people that have been displaced, the current attacks can only add to that number if the State Government does not muster up the will to urgently address the ongoing genocide in our zone.

    “If we have not been abandoned, then the government should tell us whether they are ready, willing and capable of defending us; or not ready, not willing or not capable of defending us. They should tell us so that we will know the measures to take”, it read.

    However, SOKAPU demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of all the terrorists, establishment of permanent security formations in the area and  intensify its intelligence gathering mechanism include aerial surveillance of those attack-prone villages as a proactive measure.

  • Killer herdsmen as foreign terrorists

    Killer herdsmen as foreign terrorists

    IN his Eid-el-Kabir message, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, argued against stereotyping Fulani herdsmen, most of whom he said were peace-loving and law-abiding. “All those so-called Fulani herdsmen, moving with guns, causing violence, fighting with farmers, are not Nigerians,” he posited. “These are foreigners coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace of the nation. They are therefore terrorists and should be treated as such by the Nigerian security agencies.” This was not the first time he would defend local Fulani herdsmen, nor is he the only one defending them and drawing a dichotomy between local and foreign Fulani.
    Last May, Khalid Aliyu, a spokesman of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), a coalition of several Islamic groups in Nigeria, also argued that it was wrong to attribute previous attacks in Agatu, Benue State, Nimbo, Enugu state and some parts of Nasarawa state to Fulani herdsmen. Insisting that the JNI statement could be attributed to the Sultan, he said of the alleged Fulani herdsmen attacks: “It is indeed absurd and most unfortunate that certain groups or people ascribe the incidence to ethnic and/or religious premise and whimsically apportion blame in order to batter the gradual restoration of peace and security in Nigeria.” Since then, however, the identities of many of the suspects arrested in some of the massacres and attacks have been indisputably Fulani, mostly local ones.
    But the Sultan’s description of the attackers as foreign terrorists has caused the most uproar. In the face of mounting evidence, the Sultan and many other Fulani leaders have struggled to dissociate the Fulani from the attacks — first the Fulani as a whole, especially over kidnappings, and then the local Fulani in connection with herdsmen/farmers clashes. The more Fulani leaders stubbornly stand their ground, the less successful they have become in convincing the nation. Barely moments after national Fulani leaders made their unsupportable arguments, local Fulani leaders accepted responsibility for the attacks, complete with reasons they argue justified the skirmishes.
    In the Benue State massacre, in which some 300 people were alleged to have been murdered in February in some communities in Agatu local government area, Saleh Bayeri, the Interim National Secretary of Gan Allah Fulani Association, gave a more detailed and believable account of the skirmish. According to him, and contrasting other national Fulani leaders’ accounts, the killings had their roots in the murder of Fulani leaders in 2013 and the unauthorised slaughter of thousands of cattle owned by herdsmen. In addition, said Bayeri, a respected Fulani leader, Ardo Madaki, who was invited to mediate the disagreements between Benue communities, especially in Agatu, and Fulani herdsmen was openly murdered and no one was brought to justice. Nothing was also done to prosecute those who murdered Shehu Abdullahi, another herdsman in the same area whose 22 cows were stolen. These murders, unlawful slaughter of cows, and rustling laid the grounds for revenge, said Mallam Bayeri.
    More damningly, Mallam Bayeri suggested that the Sultan himself had tried three times to settle the misunderstandings in Benue State, implying that national Fulani leaders knew exactly what was happening and who were doing the fighting. The grudges are local, and the fighters, bar some hired guns, are also local. The May, 2016 Nimbo, Enugu State killings, which were at first also attributed to external forces, have been proved to be local, with the grudges entirely local between herdsmen and farmers. If these clashes are to be avoided, it is unprofitable to pursue red herrings. Farmers and herdsmen, including the apparently more well-organised Fulani leaders, must realistically acknowledge the root causes of the mayhem in order to get sensible solutions.
    The killings by herdsmen in many farming communities are not instigated by foreign terrorists and attackers. The local herdsmen may hire foreign guns, which in itself is a sad commentary on the Nigerian security establishment, but the fight is local and most of the fighters are home grown. The herdsmen sometimes have justifiable reasons for the attacks, but so, too, do farmers; and both groups can rationally blame Nigeria’s weak law enforcement capabilities and the slow and ponderous and sometimes ineffective justice system. What appears to be complicating the discourse on the herdsmen/farmers clash is sadly the seeming inability of the federal government itself to find a lasting solution to the problem. Worse, law enforcement agents have sometimes needed to be angrily prodded to even arrest suspects who have engaged in open murder. Till date, Fulani leaders who provided explanations and justifications for some of the killings in parts of the country have neither been arrested nor interrogated. This has led to unfortunate suggestions that the security agencies sometimes look at the body language of the president before they carry out their constitutional responsibilities.
    Until the solutions proffered by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture are implemented, and regardless of the sentiments of Fulani leaders or even the presidency, the country must prevail on the security agencies to do their work without fear or favour. If herdsmen ruin farms, they must be arrested and made to face the law. If farmers take the law into their hands, they must also be apprehended. Rustlers must also be pursued and apprehended. It is depressing that political and ethnic leaders abjure either their oaths of office or the principles of justice to support their kith and kin against the laws of the land. More and more, it is becoming dangerous to leave in abeyance the desperate need to develop a national identity around which life and politics must revolve. Nature abhors vacuum. If that identity is not built to inspire unity, Nigerians will erect their own gods and idols and worship in their private, narrow-minded shrines.

  • Fayose signs bill to try herdsmen for terrorism

    Fayose signs bill to try herdsmen for terrorism

    •Governor signs Anti-Grazing Bill into law

    EKITI State Governor Ayo Fayose yesterday signed a bill to regulate grazing, into law, with a warning that any herdsman caught with arms will face charges of terrorism.

    The governor said the law would curtail activities of suspected herdsmen, who move about with firearms, unleashing terror on citizens.

    According to the new law, any offender arrested and convicted is liable to six months’ imprisonment without any option of fine.

    Grazing activities in designated places would take place between 7 am and 6 pm daily in Ekiti State.

    The governor vowed that his administration will enforce the law, noting that the law was not targeted at any particular group but to ensure that the state does not descend into anarchy and senseless bloodletting.

    Fayose signed the bill into law, with traditional rulers, community leaders and interest groups present.

    He promised to convoke such a meeting once in three months to review the security situation and other issues affecting the state.

    The governor earlier meet with the monarchs and community leaders at the Osuntokun Lodge of the Government House before giving his assent to the law in the open.

    He said the bill became expedient to prevent a recurrence of an attack by suspected herdsmen on Oke Ako in Ikole Local Government, where two people were killed and scores injured on May 20.

    The governor noted that by working with rulers, he would get a feedback on those plundering state resources, such as trees, farmlands and others.

    Fayose said: “My government took the bill to the House after what happened in Oke Ako some months ago. The House has passed the bill and I have to assent it. It becomes a law from today that if you do anything to the contrary you will be punished by the law.”

    Any herdsman caught with firearms or any weapon while grazing in Ekiti now will be charged with terrorism. I solicit your support for this government to succeed.”

    The provisions of the law was read to the audience by the House of Assembly Speaker, Kola Oluwawole, who said the government will collaborate with local councils to apportion lands for grazing in designated areas.