In order to find lasting solution to the incessant herders-farmers clashes, especially in the country, the House of Representatives held a stakeholders interactive session, to intervene in the matter. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abass Tajudeen, at the stakeholders’ interactive session, held by the House Ad-hoc Committee on the ‘Recurring Annual Clashes Between Farmers And Herders in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, and Neighbouring Local Government Areas, including Other Regions of the Country with Similar Incidents’, said that the clashes had resulted in avoidable loses of lives and properties.
Abass, who was represented at the meeting by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, stated that it is estimated that over 60,000 people had been killed since 2001, which ought not to be so. He stated the House had resolved to take a critical look into the causes, nature, dimensions, actors, impact, and possible solution to the nagging national challenge. He said that the number of deaths, injuries, and kidnapped persons constitutes an alarming situation and poses serious national security challenge for Nigeria’s quest to attain food security and alternative foreign earnings from the agriculture sector.
According to him, “These conflicts have escalated in recent years and it is quite consequential to our national security. What is even more concerning is the appropriation of these conflicts by terror groups, bandits and international criminal organisations. The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said that the clashes had taken more lives than most of the crises seen in the country. Ribadu, who was represented by Professor Abdullahi Ya’u, said that the problem was still ongoing and it is affecting the nation’s collective socio-economic interests. He stated that NSA Office had expanded its focus to tackle security matters involved by addressing the issue through dialogue, community engagements in collaboration with all relevant authorities.
The Chairman of the Committee, Bappa Aliyu Misau said that the issues faced by farmers and herders had reached critical juncture that demands immediate attention and collaborative efforts to find sustainable solution. To address the root cause of these problems, according to him, multi-faced approach that integrates the efforts of governments, private sector, civil society organisations was needed. The National President of Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN), Khalil Mohammed Bello, stated that, failure of states and Federal Government, to take sustainable actions contributed a lot to the escalation of the conflict.
“Some laws emerging in some states, restricting the free movement of pastoralists, is seen as an infringement on the principle of free movement of people, which is a constitutional right of every Nigerian, did not in anyway reduce conflicts, rather, it aggravated it. Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, in a memorandum titled; ‘Memorandum On Disputes Between Farmers and Herders in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area, Gombe State’ stated that, farmers/herders conflicts had significant impact on the livelihood of Nigerians in Yamaltu-Deba and other places. The memorandum states that understanding and addressing these changes in access to grazing land or water sources, is crucial in mitigating conflicts, between herders and farmers in the Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area.
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