Herdsmen vs the military: Don’t use force

I recall that on the 10th of April 2012, I received a directive from His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar that I should lead a delegation of six other Fulani leaders to Taraba State and assist in the recovery of some military firearms and ammunitions that fell into the hands of […]

I recall that on the 10th of April 2012, I received a directive from His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar that I should lead a delegation of six other Fulani leaders to Taraba State and assist in the recovery of some military firearms and ammunitions that fell into the hands of some herdsmen, following some bloody clash between them and the Tiv and the military who had come from the 93 Ada Barracks, Takum, to intervene.
All our efforts to have the Fulani herdsmen leaders come to Jalingo to meet us failed as they uncompromisingly refused to honour our invitation. They insisted that if we were truly serious in our assignment and indeed from the Sultan and the Governor (Baba Suntai Danfulani) then we should come to Mararaban Ba’isa, a distance of over 200 kilometers to meet them. My colleagues, six of them, all gave excuses why they would not leave Jalingo and make that risky journey as they said they were informed that the road to Mararaban Ba’isa was lineup by Tiv residences on both sides.
After some explanation and pleading from me which failed on deaf ears, I told them I was going, no matter what would happen to me. At this point, Alhaji Hamisu Tunas, sensing my seriousness, determination and resolve to go, also volunteered to go with me. I commandeered the State Secretary of the Miyetti Allah, Umar Madindi and drove to Mararaban Ba’isa and arrived safely, leaving behind my five lily-livered compatriots within the comfort of their hotel rooms.
By the time we got to Mararaban Ba’isa, the Fulani herdsmen and their leaders (Ardos, Sarki Fulani) were in their hundreds waiting for us. Col. Yusuf Muhammad (now late), the Brigade Commander, was also at Mararaban Ba’isa with his officers and men waiting for us. It was our arrangement with him that he and his men should not show their presence in the town. For the period that our meeting lasted, the soldiers remained in their hideout, waiting for the result of our meeting.
During our closed door meeting, the Fulani leaders listened to us attentively, as we relayed the Sultan’s message to them that they should hand over the military arms which were in their possession to us, for an onward transmission to the army. The arms consisted of two MPGs, one AK-47, belonging to the police and some pairs of army uniform. Testing our resolve and sincerity, they first denied ever knowing anything about any military and police arms in their possession. They denied that they knew anything about what we were talking about.
Knowing the psychology of the herdsmen, I appealed to their sense of puulaaku (Fulani integrity spirit) and told them to consider how much we risked our lives to get to them and the concern of the descendant of our great Uthman Danfodio in the person of the Sultan who had sent us and our obedience to him to come, no matter, the danger. They listened attentively albeit suspiciously. I told them I knew that it was not intentional on their side to just kill Nigerian soldiers who had come to intervene between them and the Tiv. “I know you people truly believed that the soldiers were fake and that they were Tiv militia,” I said.
The silence was broken by murmurs and groans and I could sense that I had said something they all agreed with. “Well” I went on, “if you truly believed that they were Tiv militia wearing army uniform and bearing army arms and you  fought  them and subdued them, now that you know they are truly Nigerian soldiers, you would not refuse to hand over their arms,” I persuaded. I could see still there was fear and apprehension in their eyes.
The fear was as a result of a very stern warning from the military that they were going to militarily deal with the herdsmen and their leaders over the killing of the two soldiers and a policeman if the arms were not recovered and returned to them, without establishing as a fact who actually killed the soldiers and the policeman, whether it was the Fulani or the Tiv. I assured them that as emissaries of the Sultan, we were going to ensure that once these arms were returned, amnesty would follow for those that returned them and nobody would be arrested or killed. This statement allayed their fear. In fact, we told them we would not even want to know those who returned the arms to us.
The herdsmen and their leaders opened up and said it was true, they and their children never knew these were true Nigerian soldiers as they had often been attacked and killed by men wearing military uniforms, using military arms. And as a result, they had resolved to die all than surrender themselves and the arms to the soldiers. They said they were ready to fight to the last man and that their brothers from Cameroon had promised to join them. After a brief meeting among themselves, they returned to tell us that they would look for the arms and return them to us.
They asked us to give them three days, only for them to call us in less than 24 hours and told us they have recovered the arms and they were ready to hand them over.  As we had promised them that we would keep all the persons and the recovery confidential, we told them where to deposit the arms and told Col. Yusuf to go there and pick the arms and for him to inform us as soon as he picked them. Barely 30 minutes later, he called to inform us that he had picked the arms. The arms, uniforms and ammunitions were all intact, he told us.
Our assignment, the first of its kind was a huge success. With this success, no herdsmen or his leader was subjected to any military assault or war. Only God knows how many soldiers and herdsmen would have been killed had there been a military operation against the herdsmen. May be the operation would have led to a herdsmen’s insurgency like Boko Haram. The herdsmen are found in 21 African countries, including every country in the West African sub region, and irrespective of the boundaries, they are all related and know each other.
It is our position as Fulani leaders who have been with them in the bushes and jungles and fully well understand their thinking and ways of life, we advise not only the military but all other security agencies not to engage them in any military operation without exhausting every avenue of dialogue and persuasion as is being done with other insurgents and criminals. The Fulani still, within their majority, respect their true leaders and their traditional institutions. We sincerely know how dangerous any military action would be against the Fulani who had been fighting various ethno-religious, economic, sectional and political wars since 1999 to date. They have become ruthless, well armed, trained, coordinated and in most cases beneficiaries of the arms proliferation.
The government should start thinking of how to persuade Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar whom the Fulani respect more than anybody else since the departure of Sheikh Uthman Danfodio, to intervene. The Fulani have a supreme respect for him. This much I know because of my closeness to him in the affairs of the Fulani in the last ten years of his Sultanate.

Bayari, is the National Secretary General of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN).