Dayo Abiye-Festus, 48, had had enough when a herd of cattle encroached on his plantain farm in Ajowa, Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State. He chased away the nomadic intruders.
He said soldiers later arrested a Fulani herder at the farm but nothing had been heard on the matter since and the herders had continued grazing farms in the area. According to the ACLED report, Benue State witnessed the most violent attacks, closely followed by Plateau, Kaduna, Taraba and Nasarawa in that order.
The Ondo farmers association said no fewer than 30 persons have lost their lives since 2015 in clashes between herders and farmers. This figure includes a Fulani herder who was allegedly killed by angry villagers in a reprisal attack in Ilara Mokin in 2016. Many more managed to survive attacks with varying degrees of injuries. The figure also did not account for those killed by kidnappers or other related criminal attacks.
According to The Crisis Group, high population growth, Boko Haram insurgency and cattle rustling have forced herders in the north to migrate toward the Middle Belt in search of pasture and water. Their movement has decades often claim innocence when there are farm destructions, blaming it on the Bororos who cross the borders without restrictions and travel down south usually armed with lethal weapons. Farmers said these nomads often flee to new areas after carrying out their destructive acts, making it difficult to identify and apprehend them.
The commercial biker, Usman Yusuf, who took the PREMIUM TIMES team to the community, said residents pay between N2000 and N3000 to reach the village from Owo town. According to him, conveying farm produce to markets even cost more.One of the leaders of the Jugbere farm settlement, Doktor Ogunbodede, said the state government’s forest reserve, where many farmers are located, have been taken over by the herders, who had continued to pillage their farms.
“They are still disturbing in the area and even last month the herders also came and attacked a farmer, inflicting machete cuts on his head.” According to the governor of the state, the law was designed to stem the trend of bloody attacks by herders and allow both farmers and herders the freedom to engage in their vocations without breaches.
When Nigerians are serious, they will put illogical emotions aside and resort to common sense to solve this problem. The solutions lies with the local govts more than the states and federal. Build ranches, warehouses and factory spaces in your vicinity. Anyone who wish to raise