Which tribes were peaceful farmers and herdsmen

But cattle herders lost access to grass-abundant wetlands, which they had previously used with little risk of livestock straying into farms. Hide Footnote Furthermore, high-value crops promoted by the National Fadama Development Projects, notably tomatoes and onions, produce little residue for livestock feeding, further diminishing available fodder.

Hide Footnote In this changed environment, relations became more competitive and confrontational, especially in the absence of negotiations between farmers and herders to ensure access to grazing grounds and livestock routes.

Rural banditry also is driving herders south. Since then criminal groups have proliferated, now engaging in armed robberies, raids on villages, sacking of rural markets, ransom kidnapping and cattle rustling. For more, see Mohammed J. Kuna and Jibrin Ibrahim eds. Hide Footnote Over the last decade, cattle rustling has grown in scale and organisation in several northern states where large bandit groups operate with mounting audacity.

Hide Footnote While this occurs throughout the north, the main theatres have been the Kamuku forest in Kaduna, Falgore forest in Kano, Dansadau forest in Zamfara and Davin Rugu forest stretching through Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states.

Crisis Group interviews, military officers, community and civil society leaders, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Benue states, September Some were previously herders whose stocks were stolen. Hide Footnote Cattle theft reportedly also has been a major source of funding for Boko Haram in the north east. The loss is hard to estimate: many thefts, especially those occurring in remote villages or forests with limited state security presence, go unreported.

One report estimated that in more than 64, cattle were stolen and at least 2, herders killed in states across the north-central zone. Hide Footnote Vigilante groups formed to combat bandits variously known as Yan Banga , Yan Sa Kai and Kato da Gora have compounded insecurity in some areas where the arrest and summary execution of rustlers sometimes has invited massive retaliatory violence.

Crisis Group interview, community leader, Kaduna state, 16 September Hide Footnote These conflicts — linked to poverty, inequality and religious extremism — have forced large populations to migrate, devastating local economies and livelihoods, including cattle rearing. Hide Footnote The economic losses and insecurity have compelled many herders to move south. Easy access to small arms, including assault rifles, makes the situation more dangerous. In , Nigerian military officials reported that Boko Haram insurgents had also received arms from Libya, following fall of Muammar Qadhafi regime.

Hide Footnote Herders say they carry weapons to defend themselves and their herds against heavily armed rustlers and other criminal gangs in farming communities. Hide Footnote Local vigilantes also say they procure weapons for self-defence. Hide Footnote Whatever the motivations and justification, the increasing prevalence of weapons has amplified the human cost.

In earlier decades, herders and community chiefs agreed on stock routes burti or butali , sometimes under local government auspices. Hide Footnote Those that defied the decisions of these community-level mediators were referred to local authorities. This system started crumbling in the s, undermined by the involvement of the police and courts. Pastoralists hated these new institutions: corrupt police at times extracted fines and bribes while alien and protracted court processes immobilised their herds.

Furthermore, local political leaders have tended to favour sedentary farmers, whose votes they crave, over itinerant herders, who may not be around at election time.

Consequently, herders feel increasingly marginalised and are largely distrustful of local political leaders as conflict mediators. The absence of effective mediation mechanisms, including sustained community-level dialogues, can encourage violence.

In many instances, local governments do not implement recommendations of commissions charged with investigating the conflicts, due to lack of will and widespread governmental lethargy. Over time, both herders and farmers have lost confidence in the ability of authorities to mediate and conciliate.

Aggrieved parties have turned to violence to seek redress or revenge. These conflicts have exacted a heavy humanitarian toll with thousands killed and tens of thousands displaced.

Some estimates suggest about 2, were killed countrywide in — a toll higher than that caused by the Boko Haram insurgency over the same period. Hide Footnote In Benue, one of the hardest-hit states, Governor Samuel Ortom reports more than 1, people were killed between and Tens of thousands also have been displaced.

From January to February , at least 62, people were displaced in Kaduna, Benue and Plateau states; in the absence of Internally Displaced Persons IDP camps, most seek shelter in other poor, rural communities, straining their already scarce resources.

Other estimates present lower figures. In February , SBM Intelligence reported 1, people killed in attacks involving herders in , as against 1, killed by Boko Haram through that year. In June , a tally by the Lagos-based Sun newspaper, based on media-reported incidents, stated that 1, people were killed in herder-farmer violence over the twelve months from June to May , compared to killed by Boko Haram over the same period.

Newspaper editors admit their data is not comprehensive, including only incidents reported by the media. Hide Footnote The fear of conflict alone can drive residents to relatively more secure urban and semi-urban areas. This has led to the emergence of new settlements in places like Kagoro and Manchok among others. Hide Footnote Since both authorities and donors often ignore these conflicts, affected localities receive far less support from the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA and international agencies than those impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency.

For women and girls, the impact is frequently magnified. The relatives of men killed in the violence often evict widows from their farmland. Moreover, post-conflict economic and social disenfranchisement renders women and girls even more vulnerable to sexual and economic predation. The economic toll has also been huge. Hide Footnote The study found that on average these four states lost 47 per cent of their internally-generated revenues.

Communities and households also pay a heavy price. Hide Footnote The loss of large cattle herds, crops due to population displacements and damage to irrigation facilities , as well as increases in transport and labour costs in post-conflict environments all increase poverty and food insecurity in affected communities — and beyond. The conflicts, particularly herder attacks on farming communities, have spawned dangerous political and religious conspiracy theories. One is that the attacks are part of a longer-term Fulani plot to displace indigenous populations and seize their lands.

Hide Footnote Among Christian communities, herder attacks are widely seen as a subtle form of jihad. Hide Footnote In the south east, Biafra separatist groups describe the attacks as part of a northern plot to overwhelm the peoples of the south and forcefully convert them to Islam. No evidence has been provided.

Communities in the middle belt and south have formed self-defence vigilante groups, some of which have threatened organised reprisals. The Tiv are one of the two major ethnic groups in Benue state. They have had a long history of confrontation with, and resistance of, the Fulani, dating back to the Sokoto caliphate in the nineteenth century.

They have also suffered some of the greatest losses in herder-farmer violence since To date, these reprisals against northern herders have not materialised. But signs are ominous. There may also be wider regional implications. A major confrontation involving Fulani herders could draw in their brethren from beyond Nigeria. A retired Nigerian military officer told Crisis Group that the Fulani could mobilise support, including fighters, from several West and Central African countries, which would worsen the security situation in two already fragile regions.

The federal government has, over the years, explored various responses. Although the central bank released N billion to state governments, they failed to construct any ranches. On 19 January , the House of Representatives set up a committee to investigate accusations that the funds had been looted and report back within four weeks.

Soon after assuming office in , President Buhari directed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development FMARD to formulate a comprehensive livestock development plan including measures to curb farmer-herder clashes. In August , a FMARD committee recommended short-, medium- and long-term strategies, including development of grazing reserves and stock routes. On 25 January , the government announced it was presenting a plan to the Nigerian Governors Forum to map grazing areas in all states as a temporary solution for cattle owners until they could be persuaded to embrace ranching.

Most central and southern states, however, opposed the plan, which they viewed as favouring Fulani herders. On 3 March , seeking to mollify this opposition, Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh announced the government was sending a bill to the National Assembly to prohibit cattle from roaming in cities and villages.

Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today. The Journal of African History.

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