Department of Political Science and International Relations

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Herdsmen and Farmers Conflict in Nigeria: A Threat to Peace-building and National Security in West Africa
(Journal of Social Science and Humanit ies Research, 2019) Osimen Goddy U.; Edokpa Fadal Mary; Oluwatobi Daramola I.
One of the recurrent security challenges that confront many states in the country is the scourge of Fulani herdsmen. The attacks by the herdsmen on the sedentary communities have being increasing with each passing day. Much has been written on farmers and Fulani herdsmen conflict in Nigeria. The menace posed in the different communities they migrate to for purposes of grazing their cattle is becoming very alarming. They are more and more constituting major security challenges to their host communities. The propensity towards engaging the land and farm owners of the sites they graze their cattle is increasing by the day as they update their arsenal with highly sophisticated weapons. This is the prevalent security challenge in some communities and states in Nigeria. There have been escalations of reported attacks by Fulani herdsmen who brutally kill natives of the invaded farming communities including women and children in various states across the country. Worst affected states include Benue, Nassarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Adamawa, Zamfara, Oyo, Imo, Cross-River and Enugu. There are recurrent clashes of interests between the host farming communities and the nomadic cattle herders. The major causes by our findings revealed that; Destruction of crops by the cattle, Contamination of stream by cattle, disregard for traditional authority, Over-grazing of fallow land, sexual harassment of women by nomads, Harassment of nomads by host youths, Indiscriminate defecation on roads, theft of cattle , stray cattle, and indiscriminate bush burning. The study also observed that there is no resource sustainability in Nigeria hence; it is difficult for the majority of its citizens who require land for farming and grazing to have access to land. And this is one of the major causes of conflict between the parties. The paper therefore, recommended that the problem can be minimized through extension agency intervention to identify stakeholders and development trust between the disputants using the mechanism tagged ―local development plans (LDP) which is community initiated process to reduce tension over access and the use of land and effective participation in decision-making and economic activities in the communities and among others.
FULANI HERDSMEN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES/FARMERS CONFLICT IN NIGERA
(IJRDO-Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research Volume-2 | Issue-6, 2017-06) Osimen Goddy U.; Oyewole Oyindamola O.; Akinwunmi Adeboye
The tension between Fulani herdsmen and farming communities has been in existence for many years, but has seen a dramatic escalation in recent times to include attacks, armed robbery, rape, kidnappings and killings by the nomads. They brutally kill natives of invaded farming communities including women and children in various states across the country. They are armed with sophisticated weapons and usually attack their target communities at a time they are most vulnerable such as at midnight or on Sundays when they are in the church, killing people indiscriminately and burning houses and looting properties. Most worrisome is the brutality and impunity with which the assailants operate without regard for the law and the sanctity of human life. Hence, an understanding of the causes and effects of the conflict between nomads and farmers in the host communities is an important step towards realizing the goals of socio-economic development policies in the country. Therefore, it is against this backdrop that the paper assessed the conflicts between herdsmen and the farmers, using a descriptive technique. It was however observed that, Farmers-herdsmen conflict which is within the agricultural sector is a major setback to the development of the sector and the nation’s economy at large and therefore, recommends that, Unless the Federal Government urgently addresses incessant encroachment of farmlands by a group called Bororo cattle rearers, and the havoc they wreck on crops, bloody clashes between the farmers and the peripatetic herdsmen would be inevitable. Consequently that, the proposed federal government policy to create grazing reserves is long overdue as this will ensure that there is access to arable and grazing land to avert constant conflict between these two user groups.

Department of Political Science and International Relations

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