Needed: A Plan to End Farmers/Herders Conflict

The terrible, many sided tragedies that unfolded in Plateau State last week was a reminder, we hope the last reminder, that the Federal Government must immediately put in place a plan to bring to an end once and for all the debilitating internal security problem of conflict between farmers and pastoralists. With the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East having appreciably diminished over the past year, the conflict between farmers and herders has shot to the top spot of our internal security problems. A fair, just, peaceful and lasting solution to it must be found quickly, in the form of a comprehensive plan adopted by all stakeholders.

In recent years, Plateau State was largely unaffected by conflicts that erupted in Benue, Kogi, Taraba, Adamawa, southern Kaduna, Birnin Gwari Emirate of Kaduna State as well as Zamfara State. The conflicts are intertwined with rural banditry. They have led to the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives in these states and in some cases were presented as intercommunal clashes. Plateau State was spared due to the fair, even-handed handling by Governor Simon Bako Lalong, who took the opposite tack from his predecessor, whose administration was accused of fueling the conflicts.

Still, the orgy of violence unleashed in Plateau State last week ranks among the worst seen in Nigeria in recent memory. Unknown gunmen, said to be herdsmen, attacked Razat, Ruku, Nyarr, Kura and Gana-Ropp villages of Gashish District of Barkin Ladi Local Government on the night of June 23-24. According to the police, 86 men, women and children were killed by the attackers. According to other reports, the deaths were more than that. This disastrous event led to two more tragedies. Youths from the mourning communities and their kinsmen blocked the all-important federal highway leading to the North East, dragged travelers out of their vehicles and killed them. Figures are not yet available but dozens of hapless men and women were killed in that episode. And on Wednesday last week, a peaceful protest march to the Jos Government House turned violent when the demonstrators stormed the complex, chased away the workers and smashed windows and furniture.

Another ugly side to such conflicts in Nigeria was dramatized by newspaper reports attributing to the North Central zone leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association an incendiary claim that his kinsmen carried out the attacks as reprisal for 300 rustled cows. It turned out that the story was concocted and Premium Times, which prominently reported it, later retracted, apologized and sacked its Jos reporter. We congratulate Premium Times for its courageous retraction and apology but going forward, we urge editors and publishers of all media houses to banish the culture of partisanship and sensation that led to this embarrassing gaffe in the first place.

First Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and then President Buhari made quick trips to Jos to try to calm the situation. They sued for peace and pledged N10 billion in support to the victims or their families. This was good but they must go further than that, much further than that. Government should put together a team of experts to produce a national program to end farmers/herders clashes once and for all. This should be followed by a national summit of government leaders and all stakeholders to adopt the common national program. The president’s policy of asking all states to work out their own solution has failed. We need one national solution now. Plateau State should be the last such explosion rooted in farmers/herders conflict.

Government should put together a team of experts to produce a national program to end farmers/herders clashes once and for all. This should be followed by a national summit of government leaders and all stakeholders to adopt the common national program