Herdsmen: Time to act fast

fulani-likkingswhen respite, though temporal, comes to Nigerians, we tend to almost permanently forget the pains, anxiety and disorder we have been passing through. We begin to run from pillar to pole once the crisis shockingly shows its frightening head again, often unprepared. One of the numerous avoidable cases in Nigeria is the issue of the armed Fulani herdsmen who have constituted themselves into a threat to national security although the national government is yet to consider them so. They have made eternal enemies of farmers across the country, destroying their farm and farm produce, razing down their homes, raping their wives and daughters and snuffing life out of the farmers once challenged. They leave behind pools of blood, tears of widows and deserted villages wherever and whenever they carry out their unprecedented attacks on the innocent farmers with little or no effort to put an end to the crisis. Adamawa, Plateau, Ekiti, Nassarawa, Cross Rivers among other states have tasted from the agonies of cattle rustlers have to offer. Benue State seemed to be the main target of the yet-to-be-unmasked men. The state being the Basket Food of the Nation has enough for the cattle to graze on.

Despite the wide call and appeal to the Federal Government to rein in and arrest the ugly situation that has also plunged Nigeria deeper into a state of insecurity, the government seems helpless, as Nigerians are, its best being to merely condemn the killings, sometime with a delay or hesitation. Whenever the government rises to its consciousness, it deploys security personnel just to restore normalcy and arrest a handful of suspects whose trial might be a dream. The spate of killing became more alarming when the devilish people struck Benue State at a time the unsuspecting people were having already bleak festivals. As usual, the weapon-wielding herdsmen stormed the North Central state to perpetrate their evils. Agatuland in Benue State is still reeling in the pains they suffered from the wandering miscreants. The community is always at the receiving end, witnessing a series of attacks. Taking their campaigns to other parts of the state, the state capital, Makurdi had suffered from the bitter experience. The latest ruthless activity of the herdsmen in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state shocked the whole country. It had happened before and with the situation on ground, more is likely to occur. There would only be more condemnations and calls to the government to do more, unless the state government concerned rises to the occasion and saves the state from the grip of the herdsmen.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that the perpetrators of the killings should be arrested and brought to book, would that bring solace to the victims and return the displaced people to their homes? How do you even arrest the nomads? Their arrest and possible prosecution will not bring the needed lasting solution(s) to the menace. Truly, more security presence might be in the state. Would this be permanent? Then, it’s certain that the men would come back to their unfinished business of claiming the land and unleashing terrors in Benue State. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the Federal Government to declare the armed Fulani herdsmen a terrorist group. If the government considers them a threat to national security, it is necessary to treat them as suggested by the body. After all, their negative impacts are felt in every of the six geopolitical zones of the Federation. Declaring them a terrorist group would bring the military in to nip the escalating crisis and tension in the bud.

The Benue State governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, has called on the Federal Government to quickly intervene. He should have identified the government with lackadaisical attitude to some important issues. The Fulani herdsmen’s assaults on farmers don’t just start now. Yet a lasting solution hasn’t been proffered. The buck now stops on the governor’s desk. If the Federal Government has no interest in the matter, it would be active in quenching the fire of the crisis rather than maintaining its perceived indifference. Since it couldn’t make a law against open grazing, the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017 in Benue State should be fully put to use. The Ekiti State government has successfully curbed the excesses of the armed men with its own law, and it ensures total compliance to the law. The Fulani herdsmen might not be totally lawless. The Benue State government should take the bull by the horns. Providing ranches could perhaps stop the attack on the farms, that infuriate the farmers. Brazil and Argentina are the largest exporters of beef, but ugly incidents like ours are rare there. Governor Ortom is the Chief Security Officer of his state, likewise other governors and their respective states.

Besides, the state government can have a special anti-armed-Fulani herdsmen squad to monitor the compliance of the Benue State law. Any erring herdsman would be arrested immediately and made to face the full wrath of the law. The squad comprising the police, officers of the  Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies will monitor the activities of those mischievous individuals in areas, villages, towns and cities prone to attacks. If this is considered expensive to manage most especially in term of personnel, the state government could include maintaining order and tranquillity to the responsibilities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This is a long-term measure to reduce the herdsmen-farmers clash to the barest minimum.  Every state government has right and power to protect the lives and properties of its citizens against any internal and external attack.

• Faboade lives in Gbongan, Osun State.