Fulani group links Benue killings to ban on open grazing

•As Tiv professors urge FG to adopt community-driven security approach

THE Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) has linked the protracted crisis in Benue State to the prohibition of open grazing without an alternative arrangement for those directly affected by the law.

National President of the Association, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, stated that the import of the law was that cattle rearers, nomadic or pastoralists, who are not from Benue State, would not be welcomed and that the law had the potential to foster enmity and crisis.

Abdullahi told Sunday Tribune that the Benue State government’s handling of the crisis was unconstitutional, particularly in a nation where the constitution protects everyone’s right to free movement and the ability to work for a living, adding that the crisis would end the moment Benue State addresses the matter appropriately.

“The crisis is created deliberately, and one of the most serious issues is that it has been politicised. Also, if we conduct a stakeholders mapping of all the victims of the recent killings, we will be able to address them. In Benue State, for instance, there is a legislation outlawing open grazing, and the law does not provide any alternatives; all it is simply saying is that cattle rearers, or pastoralists, who are not from Benue State, are not welcome.

“And in a country where the constitution guarantees every citizen the freedom to live and earn a legitimate income, passing such legislation only invites anarchy. So in Benue State, that law must be addressed. You want to cease open grazing, but what do you do instead? In Benue State, they are unwilling to give up their land for ranching, and they are demanding that all cattle rearers, nomadic or pastoralists leave the state.

“In a nation where everyone is guaranteed the right to work for a living, this is unconstitutional. The crisis will end the moment Benue State takes appropriate action to resolve this matter. One of the main issues is the crisis politicisation, which was purposefully caused,” he said.

He further attributed the protracted crisis in Plateau, Benue and southern Kaduna States to the profiling of the Fulanis, adding that such profiling over the years has continued to fuel the unfortunate situation.

He said, “Another thing is that when you are fighting me, just restrict your fight to me and not fight anybody that resembles me just because you think the person is my tribesman. If you kill such people, they come back to attack you. So, how are you going to carry out the reconciliation? Even in southern Kaduna, people have refused to understand that they have offended people they don’t know.”

The GAFDAN national president therefore enjoined both the federal government and concerned state governments to dig deep into the root of the problem and desist from window dressing, stating that there is no way the issues on the ground can be resolved without proper diagnosis.

“We are always trying to build from the top. There’s no way you go to the hospital and the doctor will prescribe a drug for you without a proper diagnosis. He would ask you a lot of questions and subject you to laboratory tests, all in an attempt to arrive at a correct diagnosis. In our case, nobody cares about the root cause of any crisis; all we often do is to dress things up, and after a few days, it will erupt again.

“Crises have been happening in Plateau State. Nobody has ever sat down and asked why, how and what were the root causes of those crises. There was a time that people just came to the highway or cattle route and began to attack the people they considered as their enemies, not knowing that in Plateau State you have so many international routes that pass through the state and you have people migrating from various states and some even outside the country.

“To address this issue, you identify the stakeholders, people that had been affected in one way or the other, and for those that are not living in the state, it will be difficult to bring them to the round table. That has been the problem. The same thing with Benue State and everywhere else; they cannot identify those who are affected by the crises.”

In another development, a group known as Forum of Ayatutu Professors in Benue State on Saturday called for the expansion of the role of Benue State Bureau of Homeland Security to include farming communities protection so as to tackle the rising insecurity in the state.

The forum, which comprises full professors of Tiv extraction worldwide, suggested an annual levy of N1,000 for all taxable adults across the state to fund the activities of the security outfit.

The forum also called on the people of the state to defend themselves against the marauding herders.

The self help, according to the Tiv dons, must be within the “framework of careful post-conflict management of its complexities.”

These recommendations and others were contained in a statement issued and signed by the forum’s Chairman and Secretary, Board of Trustees and Council of Management, Professors Tor Joe Iorapuu and Simon Verlumun Irtwange, respectively and made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Saturday.

The forum also encouraged the people of the state to remain focused and united, noting that the only way to fight the marauders was for the people to join in the journey on the road to unity.

It further encouraged the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, and all the paramount traditional rulers to keep their focus on what it described as “uncomfortable cross.”

The statement read in parts, “The forum acknowledged that despite the efforts of the various tiers of government, they have failed in their responsibility of protecting lives and property of the Tiv people and Benue State citizens in general.

“The forum agreed that in the immediate, there is the need for community approach to security, self-help, but it must be within the framework of careful post-conflict management of its complexities.

“There is a need therefore to mobilise and organise our people to defend their lives, land, and the future wellbeing of their children. We must defend against ambitious land grabbers working in cohort with some power-seeking, disoriented, ambitious but self-centered politicians and traditional rulers.

“The forum calls for the expansion of the role of Benue State Bureau of Homeland Security to include farming communities protection and further recommends an annual levy of N1,000 for all taxable adults in Tiv land and Benue State in general for the funding of the activities of the renamed Bureau of Homeland Security and Farming Communities Protection.”

Isaac Shobayo and Johnson Babajide