{"id":57907,"date":"2018-06-20T12:51:03","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T11:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/?p=57907"},"modified":"2019-11-22T14:40:59","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T13:40:59","slug":"fulani-herdsmen-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzznigeria.com\/fulani-herdsmen-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulani Herdsmen Attack in Enugu, Benue and Lagos Nigeria \u2013 Here\u2019s All You Need To Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fulani herdsmen are nomadic herders, whose history can be traced to the Futa Jalon mountains of West Africa, and\u00a0whose primary occupation is raising livestock. They\u00a0are largely located in the Sahel and semi-arid parts of\u00a0West Africa but due to changes in climate patterns many herdsmen have moved further south into the savannah and tropical forest belt of West Africa.<\/p>\n
Fulani\u00a0herdsmen are found in countries such as\u00a0Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d\u2019Ivoire and\u00a0Cameroon. In Senegal, they inhabit northeastern Ferlo and the southeastern part of the country.<\/p>\n
The history of Fulani herdsmen\u00a0in Nigeria dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries when they started migrating into Northern Nigeria from the Senegambia region.<\/p>\n
After the Uthman Dan Fodio jihad, the Fulanis integrated into the Hausa ethnic group of Northern Nigeria. During the dry season when tsetse fly population was reduced,\u00a0Fulani\u00a0herdsmen\u00a0began to drive their cattle\u00a0to the middle belt zone dominated by non-Hausa groups, returning to the north at the onset of the rainy season.<\/p>\n
But while managing the herd and driving cattle, cattle grazing on farmlands sometimes leads to the destruction of crops, becoming a source of conflict between the herdsmen and farmers.<\/p>\n
To tackle this, in 1978, Nigeria implemented\u00a0the land use act which\u00a0gave\u00a0state or federal government the right to assign and lease land and also gave indigenes the right to apply and be given a certificate of occupancy to claim ownership of their ancestral lands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This placed the Fulanis in a difficult position because most of them did not apply for lands of occupancy of their grazing routes and recurring transhumance movement will lead to encroachment of the properties of others. This also led the federal government to carve out\u00a0some areas as grazing routes but this has not reduced clashes as there have been reports of clashes between the herdsmen and farmers across Nigeria.<\/p>\n
From 1996 to 2006 about 121 people lost their lives in Bauchi and Gombe states as a result of conflicts between\u00a0Fulani herdsmen\u00a0and farmers.<\/p>\n
Many communities, particularly in the North Central and South-Eastern states, have also recently faced severe attacks allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen.<\/p>\n
Since January 2016, about 10 Agatu communities in Benue State have suffered unprecedented hardship in the hands of men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. About 500 Agatu villagers have reportedly lost their lives to the herdsmen.<\/p>\n
In Abia State communities of Uzuakoli in Bende Local Government Area, Ebem and Akanu in Ohafia and Umuchieze in Umunneochi, there have been cases of deadly clashes between rural farmers and the cattle breeders.<\/p>\n
The invasion of farmlands in Ebem and Akanu communities nearly resulted in bloodbaths but the wisdom of the leaders in the community who timely reported to the authorities saved bloody clashes.\u00a0Some of the cases were so serious that Abia State Government had to intervene, preventing the youths of the communities from retaliating. It set up a peace committee that quelled the then imminent doom.<\/p>\n