Pastoralist groups in Nigeria have rejected the profiling of Fulani pastoralists as bandits, and called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a national dialogue on farmer-herder conflicts. The call follows what they say are the killings of hundreds of pastoralists in recent months.
The groups made their position known at a news conference held on Sunday in Abuja.
The President of Kautal Pulaaku Fulbe Association of Nigeria, Dr. Huseini Buzaye, signed an address on behalf of the Confederation of Pastoralist Non-Governmental Organisations. He said the groups represent “millions of Nigerian pastoralists from all 36 states and FCT”, under over 30 associations.
The association’s General Secretary, Abdullahi Ardo, read the prepared speech on behalf of the president. He said: “For too long, the word ‘Fulani Pastoralist’ has been profiled and criminalized as synonymous with banditry, kidnapping and terrorism”.
According to the groups, the stereotyping “has given impetus to jungle justice, extrajudicial killings, and hate speech against innocent pastoralists, including women and children who have no connection to crime.”
“Criminals are criminals and have no tribe,” the statement said. It urged security agencies and the media to “stop ethnic profiling but arrest and prosecute criminals as individuals, not as an ethnic group”, they added.
On the killings, the coalition said hundreds of innocent pastoralists had been killed in the last few months in coordinated attacks in Plateau, Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and other parts of the country.
It said women, children and the elderly were among the dead. Thousands of cattle were also rustled or killed, while entire Rugas were burnt down.
“These killings are not reported. There is no national outrage. There is no compensation. There is no justice,” it said.
The groups demanded an independent investigation into the killings.
They also asked the Federal Government to direct the National Emergency Management Agency, and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons to provide relief materials to displaced pastoralists “as it does for other communities”.
In addition, they asked security agencies to protect pastoralists “as Nigerian citizens under Section 14 and Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution.”
The coalition commended Tinubu for creating the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, describing it as “a historic decision that gave us hope after 60 years of agitation.”
However, it said the ministry “remains largely unfunded and without a clear operational framework” years after its creation.
The coalition appealed for the ministry “to be seen active at the community level”.
It also asked the President and the National Assembly to allocate at least 30 per cent of the agricultural budget to the ministry.
The groups further asked that the 417 grazing reserves be immediately gazetted and protected, in the words of the statement, to “immediately gazette and protect the 417 grazing reserves”.
They also called for pilot ranches and fodder production to be started in the six geo-political zones.
“Livestock is a 30 trillion economy. It cannot be treated with levity,” the statement said.
Citing what it described as more than 20,000 deaths from the farmer-herder conflict in 10 years, the coalition said: “Nigeria cannot achieve peace by military means alone.”
It called on the President to make “a Presidential Declaration of National Dialogue and Reconciliation on Farmer-Herder and Pastoralist Conflicts”.
The coalition said the dialogue should include Miyetti Allah groups, traditional rulers, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, security agencies and state governments.
It said the dialogue should have a mandate of “Truth, Justice, Forgiveness, Compensation, and a Roadmap for Peaceful Co-existence.”
The groups also listed responsibilities for pastoralist communities. They urged leaders, households and young people to respect farmers’ rights and lawful property, and to take “reasonable measures to prevent livestock from entering cultivated farmland”.
They further urged them to cooperate with lawful security investigations, report cattle rustling and kidnapping, and reject violence, banditry and retaliatory violence.
The coalition said it intends to carry out mass awareness and sensitisation across the six geo-political zones, with a framework already worked out.
“We are Nigerians. We are pastoralists. We are not bandits. We love this country. Our cattle feed this nation,” the statement said.
It called on federal and state governments, traditional institutions, farmers’ associations, security agencies and development partners to work together. The coalition advocated “justice without discrimination, security without exclusion, development without marginalization, and peaceful coexistence based on mutual respect and the rule of law.”
