USA Africa Dialogue Series - FARMER-HERDSMEN RIFTS: CISLAC CALLS FOR APPROPRIATE INVESTIGATION

FARMER-HERDSMEN RIFTS: CISLAC CALLS FOR APPROPRIATE INVESTIGATION

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) condemns in totality, the on-going unchecked and intensifying rate of killings in various parts of the country in the guise of Fulani-Herdsmen tussles.

We find it worrisome that communities are persistently invaded and innocent lives are lost to dreadful attacks launched by unidentified individuals or group without exhaustive investigation or institution of necessary mechanism by security agencies to identify and reveal true identity of the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

While overgrazing and overcrowding could trigger conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in the affected areas, we have also observed that during the dry season, low feedstuff and low water in rivers result in an early movement of herds in search of pasture and water, thereby increasing the risk of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers.

Similarly, continuous struggles against low feed purchasing power and the general fall in prices of animals as a result of deterioration in animal body conditions in dry season expose the country to another level of farmers-herdsmen conflicts. 

However, given the existing level of insecurity and the nation's pattern of Farmer-Herdsmen rift, the recent attacks has clearly taken fresh dimension which should rather not be attributed to any ethnic group until exhaustive investigation is conducted by relevant authorities.

It is no more news in the country that some political and socio-economic saboteurs and other enemies of social integration in most occasions take advantage of the existing instability to fuel precarious attacks on innocent citizens, primarily for their selfish and unpatriotic interest.

We therefore, urge appropriate and sincere investigation—with concrete effort to identify and prosecute the perpetrators, by relevant authorities into the on-going attacks resulting in unwarranted loss of innocent lives and property in various parts of the country.

We urge all levels of Government to make good drinking water available for both man and animals in water deficit areas, through the provision of sufficient wells or boreholes in the affected communities.

We call on traditional rulers and community heads across the country to encourage their herdsmen on adequate provisions for their animal feeds against dry season, through massive storage of animal feedstuffs during the growing season.

We also call on traditional rulers and community heads toinstitute alternative means of conflict resolution, especially between their farmers and herdsmen to avoid undesirable elements that could capitalize on the insecurity in the country to attack innocent citizens.

Signed:

Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)

Executive Director, CISLAC

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