The Afenifere
Renewal Group (ARG) has decried the ruinous activities of Fulani herdsmen in
the South-west of the country, warning that except the federal government
reined in the nomadic cattle rearers, the food security of the region would be
undermined.
While stating that
the zone’s farmers were no longer able to work at full capacity because of the
ruinous activities of the herdsmen, the ARG said the farmers would now have to
defend themselves and their property if the security agencies failed to check the
killer cattle herders.
The group also
condemned the proposal by Northern Governors Forum (NGF) to open a register for
immigrant Fulani herdsmen, whom the forum identified as aliens and threats to
Nigeria’s internal security.
It said there was no
rationale for the proposal, arguing that once the aliens had been found to be
injurious to Nigerian citizens, the appropriate thing government should do was
to expel them from the country.
The group in a
statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, at the weekend
lamented that the South-west farmers could not work at their full capacity due
to the ruinous activities of Fulani herdsmen.
It therefore called
for a ban on open grazing and the arrest and prosecution of arms-bearing
herdsmen to stem further loss of lives and property.
It also said the way
forward was to establish and promote ranching in order to stop the prevailing
conflicts between herdsmen and farmers.
ARG said: “Farmers
are paying for land use. So, why should herdsmen not? If herdsmen are justified
to bear arms, why should farmers not do same? If herdsmen continue to get
higher priority, our farmers would be right to resort to self-defence because
where injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty.”
The group suggested
that the only workable solutions were to outlaw open grazing; arrest and
prosecute arms-bearing herdsmen and promote ranching systems.
The ARG said the
region’s food security was being threatened by the destructive activities of
herdsmen as its farmers, who are largely smallholding farmers, could no longer
work at their full capacity, but now live at the mercy of cows and conniving
policemen.
According to the
group: “This has aggravated the sweeping poverty in Nigeria and has displaced
many of our people. Nigeria’s socio-economic indices are clear that farmers,
not herdsmen, should get higher priority from government, being a higher
employer of labour, higher contributor to tax, FOREX earning and GDP.”
It rejected a
proposal by the NGF that a register should be opened for immigrant Fulani
herdsmen, whom they described as aliens and threats to the country’s internal
security.
It expressed concern
that the Northern state governors, who swore to protect Nigeria’s constitution,
were the ones promoting alien interest.
ARG said: “What
logic is there in opening a register for agents of external aggression?
“It is shameful that
the NGF could not even pretend and hide its readiness to sacrifice the rest of
Nigeria for Fulani interest in its veiled reference to national integration and
cohesion as the solution to herdsmen’s menace.
“For example, Kaduna
State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, arrogantly and cold-heartedly declared
on Aljazeera recently that killer herdsmen must be accommodated because Nigeria
is a signatory to ECOWAS’s treaty on trans-humane pastoralist protocol. We wonder
if ECOWAS treaties are only obligatory where it concerns Fulani interest as
there are other treaties that Nigeria has ignored.
“Another example is
the recent ban on car importation through land borders which Comptroller
General Hameed Ali said was done to stop influx of illegal arms. If this policy
could be implemented swiftly, at great economic loss to stakeholders and
despite a Senate order against it, why has nothing been done to disarm herdsmen
who freely roam about with sophisticated weapons?”
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