Sultan’s Admonition On Killer Herdsmen

Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar recently returned to the vexing issue of inter-communal conflicts involving cattle herdsmen in many parts of the country. These clashes have become more frequent and much more violent in recent years and are now one of this country’s biggest internal security problems, second only to Boko Haram insurgency and Niger Delta […]

Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar recently returned to the vexing issue of inter-communal conflicts involving cattle herdsmen in many parts of the country. These clashes have become more frequent and much more violent in recent years and are now one of this country’s biggest internal security problems, second only to Boko Haram insurgency and Niger Delta Avengers. Speaking at his palace in Sokoto last Monday during Eid el-Kabir festivities, the Sultan, who is also President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs [NSCIA], said herders moving about with guns and causing violence are not Nigerians. He said, “These are foreigners coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace …They are terrorists and should be treated as such by Nigerian security agencies.”
The Sultan’s assertion, which came as a surprise to some Nigerians, immediately found expert support in the remarks last Thursday of Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed. The Ahmadu Bello University [ABU], Zaria professor, who is also Director of the Centre for Democratic Development and Training (CEDDERT), said bandits from neighbouring countries are to blame for the incessant conflicts between farmers and herdsmen in Nigeria. Mohammed spoke at the maiden edition of CEDDERT’s seminar series with the theme “Pastoralists and Farmers’ Conflict in Nigeria.” He said the finding was based on research in the three communities of Dansadau in Zamfara State, Sabuwa in Katsina State and Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State.
He said, “The conflict has five varying dimensions and levels of causes ranging from the phenomenon of cattle rustling by armed bandits who are usually non-residents; to incursions between farmers and herders into each others’ territories and resources. There is also an international dimension to the conflict whereby through the bilateral and ECOWAS pastoral legislations, pastoralists from other countries easily access the country in order to cause mayhem.”
Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad had been saying for some time that Nigerians, particularly the news media, should refrain from attaching ethnic, regional or religious toga to any group based on the misdeeds of some of its members. Speaking last month at a dinner organised for religious leaders, security agencies and journalists in his palace in Sokoto, the Sultan regretted that every negative act was attributed to Fulani herdsmen “even though there were other people committing heinous crimes elsewhere but it was not linked to their religion, ethnicity or region. If criminals are doing bad things, they are criminals and they can be found anywhere, in any religion and tribe. Therefore don’t add religious or tribal toga to any act of terrorism. Fulani men are only after their cattle, not after any government or its policies and programmes. How can they carry weapons; to go and do what with it?”
This point made by His Eminence the Sultan bears repeating because elements of all tribes, regions and religions in Nigeria have committed, are committing and will in the future commit heinous acts but no one ever described them as “Hausa armed robbers,” “Yoruba ritual killers,” “Igbo kidnappers” or “Ijaw pirates.” An armed robber is any armed robber, no matter his ethnic or religious affiliation; ditto for cult murderers, kidnappers, pirates, pipeline saboteurs, rapists or other criminals and they deserve to be visited with the full wrath of the law. Adding ethnic and other labels to criminal deeds unduly stigmatises law-abiding members of that group and it also complicates the search for a solution.
That said, we again acknowledge that violent clashes between pastoralists and farmers as one of the country’s biggest internal security problems that are crying for a solution. Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad urged security agents to be proactive in tackling the problem. Indeed they should be; there is no local government area in Nigeria that does not have a police division. Most, if not all also have a Department of State Services [DSS] contingent. These agents should very closely monitor the security situation in their localities in order to detect signs of problems and take immediate measures to arrest them. Of course we all know that the police and other agencies are not as well equipped as they should be but if only they detect the flashpoints early enough, they can call for help from state and local governments and if necessary, from the military.
That also said, it is clear that the problem of clashes between farmers and pastoralists has deep socio-economic roots and has been accentuated in recent years by population explosion, greater pressure on land and water resources, environmental degradation, desert encroachment, encroachment on grazing reserves and cattle routes, the activities of cattle rustlers as well as general increase in rural banditry occasioned by harsh socio-economic climate. Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh, for one, has shown deep personal commitment to finding a lasting solution to this problem and has kept it on the front burner of national discourse.
The identified solution is to implement a long term program to settle the pastoralists through the creation of ranches and grazing reserves. We urge the Federal Government to pay even more attention to this issue. The Buhari Administration should make this issue one of its top political priorities. If the Federal Government does not lead the way, state governments will be tempted to adopt their own solutions, which could aggravate the problem rather than ameliorate it. Ekiti State Government’s solution of banning cattle movement in the state is not a proper solution anymore than stopping vehicles from the plying the state’s roads because armed robbers and kidnappers use vehicles. We congratulate Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad on his wise and well considered position and we urge the authorities to build up on it and accelerate the national program of building grazing reserves and ranches.