Herdsmen and Farmers Conflict in Nigeria: A Threat to Peacebuilding and Human Security in West Africa

Fulani herders and cattle in Nigeria. Photo courtesy of Dr. Mary Gillham Archive Project via Flickr Commons. 

The sporadic and ongoing violent conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in rural communities in Nigeria is a serious threat to human security and development in the country. The conflicts also have a strong potential to spread to other neighboring countries in West Africa, but the international community has remained silent on the possibility of the conflict spreading. On New Year's Day, Fulani herdsmen killed about 73 people in a farming community in Benue state. The victims included women, children, and young and old residents of the community. An arrest or prosecution has yet to happen, and similar violence has occurred across the country since then. A slow response from the government has led to suspicions in the media that the government is in support of the Fulani militiamen involved in the violence. Furthermore, it is alleged that some of the Fulani militiamen migrated from other countries in West Africa to carry out the attack, due to a shared ethnicity that is present in several other countries across the sub-region.

Initially, these protracted violent conflicts had predominantly occurred in the middle belt states of Taraba, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nassarawa, and Adamawa. As well as situated along the trough of Benue River, which possesses fertile soil and lush vegetation for farming and grazing. However, recent reports have indicated that the clashes have spread to other parts of the country including states in the North and Southern regions such as Zamfara, Rivers, Ekiti, Enugu, Ogun, and Bayelsa among others. The effects of climate change and desertification in the North combined with the activities of Boko Haram in the North Eastern region has made cattle grazing difficult, and has driven herders to migrate south. This has given rise to the prevalence of violent clashes. There are also ethno-religious interpretations of the conflict as well. While the cattle herders are predominantly nomadic Fulani Muslims, the sedentary smallholder farmers are from other ethnic groups and are predominantly Christians or of other religions. The culmination of these factors have led people to believe that the conflict is another Jihad by the "invading" Fulani ethnic group, and an attempt at land grabbing. However, one thing is clear from the violent conflict — it is a struggle over land resources.

Implications for Human Security

Presently, there are negative portrayal of Fulani herdsmen in the Nigerian media. Media outlets have projected an image of a young Fulani herdsman clutching an AK 47 rifle and other dangerous weapons while herding cows, rather than the traditional long sticks they carry. The local media covering the violent conflicts have portrayed herdsmen often as violent perpetrators in farming communities. This has reinforced a public image associated with dangerous cattlemen. The perceived inaction of the police and other state security apparatuses to provide sufficient protection for farmers and residents of rural communities in Nigeria has led to alternative forms of security, such as the mobilization of local hunters and vigilantes. This has led to the lynching of herdsmen who are seen as security threats in some communities. In retaliation, herdsmen have mobilized militias to attack villages and rural communities, leading to the death of citizens. The current government has conducted security interventions in communities undergoing violence from cattle rustling, but have not intervened in the herder and farmer violent clashes. The Nigerian Defense Minister, Monsur Dan-Ali, attributed the growing violence to the blockage of traditional grazing routes by farmers. This view tends to present the federal government as taking sides with the violent herdsmen due to shared ethnic identity as the president, who is a Fulani.

In many of the affected rural communities, farmers are driven out of villages, ultimately becoming refugees in neighboring states. Those that remain in the villages are afraid to travel to farms in remote locations due to fear of violence from herdsmen. The implication of this situation is ominous on food production. Already, there are reports that prices of foods have increased in some of the affected states while refugee problems have escalated.People have left their villages in the Benue state and migrated to the Nassarawa state, where the governor has voiced his inability to cope with the spillage. There are similar situations in other states as well.

Lack of Coherent Policy

It appears the end is not in sight concerning the crisis, as there is no coherent policy framework to end the problem. The federal government is proposing to establish what it described as "cattle colonies," in all states across the country to accommodate nomadic cattle herders. The nature and shape of such colonies are still not clear. On the other hand, most state governments are opposed to the policy due to fear that it could cause a land use crisis between host communities and cattle herders. Already farmers are occupying most arable lands in the states and persuading them to cede such lands for grazing could be difficult. Nevertheless, state governments possess the constitutional rights over land allocation and many, especially in the south, are not willing to establish cattle colonies. Most states would prefer tackling the problem by facilitating modern ranches established by private individuals. Moreover, there are suspicions that the federal government is attempting to render undue favor to private individuals and elites who own cattle through the proposed policy.

Recommendations

The international community and civil society organizations should pay attention to ongoing herdsmen and farmers conflict, which has the potential to spread throughout West Africa. The current approach by the Nigerian government has not adequately addressed the situation. There is a possibility that the problem could lead to serious food crises and refugee problems in the region if quick action is not taken to provide adequate security for people in rural communities across Nigeria. The federal government should consider constituting a special security task force to prevent further clashes between herders and farmers, as well as set up mechanisms to penalize criminal actors who kill in communities, serving as a form of justice and a potential deterrent to others. Security forces should seize illegal weapons and set up information centers to collect tips on the locations of the violent actors in affected communities. State governments are having difficulties managing the refugee problems created by the crisis, and are asking for support to alleviate it. State governments should consider providing temporary grazing land to herdsmen to reduce tensions already generated. The international community would do well to consider putting pressure on the federal government to collaborate with state governments on mitigating the crisis, specifically by working together on instituting peacemaking interventions in communities experiencing herders-farmers clashes.

The local and international media should re-examine the angle in which they cover and report on the crisis in order to de-escalate tensions. The international media should consider publicizing the growing crisis more in their programming content, while the local media should consider refraining from reporting the crisis in a stereotypical and prejudicial point of view. Moreover, both forms of media should focus more on the efforts of the Nigerian government to address the situation and on the works of peace workers in local communities.

It is better to take pro-active action now in order to prevent a conflict that could possibly engulf a whole sub-region, and become a humanitarian crisis in the world. All hands must be on deck in order to address the farmers-herders conflict in Nigeria, as it is happening now.

Olusola Isola is a Southern Voices Network Scholar for Peacebuilding for the Spring 2018 term. He is a Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies at the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria, a member organization of the Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding.