Osun resolves 6,000 cases for herdsmen, farmers

Osun State Government has resolved no fewer than 6,000 cases for Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers in the state from 2014 till date and ensured peaceful co-existence among them. The Commissioner for Special Duties who is also the Chairman of the Committee on Peaceful co-existence between Fulani/Bororo and crop Farmers in the state, Honourable Mudasiru […]

Osun State Government has resolved no fewer than 6,000 cases for Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers in the state from 2014 till date and ensured peaceful co-existence among them.

The Commissioner for Special Duties who is also the Chairman of the Committee on Peaceful co-existence between Fulani/Bororo and crop Farmers in the state, Honourable Mudasiru Toogun disclosed this in Osogbo on Tuesday.

Speaking with journalists at the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Toogun said no record of death was recorded between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the state as a result of the committee’s efforts.

He said the committee was using traditional ways to resolve issues between the herdsmen and farmers adding that some cases that had been reported to the police and got to the court still returned to the committee and were resolved amicably.

Toogun said: “Governor Rauf Aregbesola set up the committee in 2014 even before the herdsmen and farmers clashes became major issues in the country. The committee visited the Fulani settlements across the state and they told us that they need water and education. 

“We provided 13 boreholes for them in various Fulani settlements between 2015 and 2016. The governor mandated the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to set up schools at the Fulani settlements and this was done immediately.

“When they realised that the government cares for them and that we are very sincere, they were ready to cooperate with us on any issue we present to them. We succeeded in resolving 6,000 cases from 2014 till date.”

He added: “The governor has mandated that we must do enumeration of all the animals in this state and we are starting from cows. Every cattle will carry a tag and identity number that will be allocated to it.

“The detail of every cattle in this state will be on a central data base of the state which will also contain the full detail of the owner of the cattle. This will prevent theft of the cows and enable us to identify invaders.

“In Osun, we do not have problem with the real Fulani herdsmen but some Bororo people are giving us serious problems because they are violent. Such Bororo people usually come from other states and we have been sending them back to wherever they came from.”

The commissioner said grazing at night is not allowed in the state.

He lamented that the Bororo people always graze at night, noting that farmers always cry the following morning. He said all farmers and herdsmen in the state must abide by the rules and regulations set by the committee.

He urged the Federal Government to declare state of emergency on the Fulani herdsmen issue. He accused some powerful people in the state of providing firearms for some herdsmen. He canvassed for the provision of ranches so that herdsmen can feed their cows conveniently. 

According to him, “The places where the cows used to feed have developed and people have built mansions there, whereas, the animals have multiplied and they will need to feed. The Federal Government should finance the state governments to have ranches so as to discourage open grazing.”

“We live peacefully with the Fulani people in Osun. Most of them understand Yoruba language more than many Yoruba people. We know them and we can easily identify them. They don’t give us problem. It is the Bororo people that are troublesome here and they are deadly,” Toogun said.