How Benue police command brokered peace between herdsmen, farmers 

From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi


For long, crises between farmers and herders have escalated across the country. In Benue State, these clashes have led to the loss of hundreds of lives, even as property and household items worth billions of naira have been destroyed.

In a bid to address these recurring crises and find a lasting solution to the incessant clashes, the Benue State Command of the Nigeria Police Force recently called a meeting of stakeholders to discuss the issues and chart a path of unity and harmony for the farmers and the herdsmen.

Many would remember the sacking of some communities in different local government areas in Benue such as Agatu, Guma, Logo, Tarka, Buruku, Gwer West and Makurdi in the last few years. Hundreds of lives were lost and property running into billions of naira were wasted.
Many families have since lost their homes, becoming residents of internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps while their children have had their education halted.

Right now, fear and anxiety rule the air in Benue. There was tension in some parts of Benue early this year when Fulani herdsmen were sighted in some communities. Already, pockets of squabbles between farmers and herdsmen are being recorded across the state.
Recently, a farmer was confirmed killed by the police with several others sustaining injuries after Fulani herdsmen stormed Okpale-Ogege, Edumoga, Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, while the clashes and rumours of crisis have continued to circulate within and around the state daily.
The police authorities in Benue have said they were determined to put a halt to the crises.

In the parley, the stakeholders were drawn from the Benue farming community and the Fulani community in the state as well as vigilante groups, opinion leaders, religious leaders and traditional rulers.

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Addressing the stakeholders, Benue State Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, said the meeting became necessary because of the worrisome dimension the crisis was likely to take this year.
Makama, who named instances where misunderstandings between farmers and herdsmen had begun to brew in the state, noted that, if nothing was done to nip the trouble in the bud, the misunderstandings could snowball into a full-blown crisis.
While positing that the reason for the meeting was to reiterate the need for peaceful coexistence and address areas that needed attention, the police boss urged all the stakeholders to see themselves as partners in the peace project.
He stated that, for some days, he had been receiving reports of misunderstandings between Fulani herders and farmers from different communities within the state, including Okpokwu, Kwande and Buruku. He said all was not well, if there were reports like these on a daily basis.

“In Okpokwu, a young cattle herder sent his herds of cattle into a man’s farm and when the owner of the farm complained, the young Fulani boy brought out his machete and attacked the farmer. There was also another report in Kwande, where people raised a false alarm that Fulanis had invaded someone’s farm and his cattle was killed in the process.

“I have reviewed these complaints and I am not comfortable with them. That is why I called this meeting, to further warn and advise all on the need to ensure peace in the state. The law is there for everybody and there is a problem when there is any breach of the law,” the police commissioner said.

On their part, some of the Fulani herders at the meeting, including Seidu Idris, Ibrahim Auta and Wakili Shede, expressed their readiness to cooperate with the police and the farmers to maintain peace this year.
They noted that herdsmen were like vehicle drivers who would not want to deliberately drive their vehicles on faeces. They explained that no herder would deliberately enter a farm with his cattle to cause havoc and loss of crops to a farmer.
The Fulani called for understanding from the farmers when issues that could cause a crisis popped up. In their words, such mature handling of the situation was far better than taking to violence and raising false alarms to scare innocent villagers.

Those that spoke on the part of the Benue farmers included Chief Benjamin Ochigbo, district head of Otukpo, Tor Tyav, chairman of the Peace Committee of farmers and herdsmen in Buruku, youth leaders of Obi and Oju, Atuma Samson and Armstrong Idu, as well as Tyough John, appealed to the herdsmen to stop denying whenever their cattle destroyed farms in Benue State.
The speakers also appealed that new Fulani herders to the area should be duly registered before being allowed to stay in any community to forestall a situation where the strange Fulanis would cause problems and leave without any trace.
They also suggested that the new trend of leaving young Fulani boys in charge of rearing cows should be discouraged. According to them, the young Fulani boys were mostly power-drunk and could cause a crisis at the slightest provocation.
“The older Fulanis no longer rear cows in the bush. They have left the trade in the hands of young Fulanis, who most of the time are power-drunk. Each Fulani community should have meetings with the host community monthly,”
he said.

In his remarks, Ter Makurdi, Chief Sule Abenga, advised that the Fulanis should not misinterpret the intention of the police commissioner in calling for the peace meeting.
Abenga stated that the meeting was to protect the rights of the Fulanis who had lived with Benue farmers for many years and not to encourage the influx of strange Fulanis whose only mission was to wreak havoc on the farmers.
The traditional ruler further restated Governor Samuel Ortom’s words that there was no vacant land in Benue. He reiterated the need for cattle ranching, just as he called for mutual understanding between farmers and herders.