6,500 killed, $14bn lost to herders/farmers clashes - Report

Nigeria has lost 6,500 persons, $14.7bn and 62,000 others displaced in record 850 perennial clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the North Central region of the country, a report has said.

The report which was an ‘Assessment of current responses to farmer-herder conflict in Nigeria’ titled “Responses to Farmers and Herders conflicts in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria” said the losses were recorded between 2010 and 2015.

It was presented yesterday in Abuja by Dr Chris Kwaja a Research Fellow of Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Nigeria at the forum on farmer-herder relations in Nigeria (FFARN) organised by the Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Nigeria.

The event attended by conflict resolution experts, academics and researchers from government and civil society organisations (CSOs) was part of “Amplifying the Expertise of African Peace building Practitioners and Scholars” grant by the Carnegie Corporation.

According to Kwaja, the late Northern Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello in 1965 created 415 grazing reserves and routes, but that urbanization and nongazette of the routes remained challenge of utilization.

The Search for Common Ground Nigeria, Project Lead Mrs Bukola AdemolaAdelehin, said researches have shown that the crisis was more of livelihood and not ethno-religious.