Killings: ‘We are not bandits’, herdsmen reject profiling, demand dialogue

*Want 30% of agric budget for Livestock ministry *Demand immediate gazette of 417 grazing reserves *Seek pilot ranches, fodder production in six zones By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA: Pastoralist groups 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, following what they say are the killings of hundreds of pastoralists in recent months.

At a news conference on Sunday in Abuja, President of Kautal Pulaaku Fulbe Association of Nigeria, Dr. Huseini Buzaye, who signed an address on behalf of the Confederation of Pastoralist Non-Governmental Organisations CONPA, said the groups represent “millions of Nigerian pastoralists from all 36 states and FCT”, under over 30 associations. General Secretary of the association, Abdullahi Ardo, who read the prepared speech on behalf of the president, said; “For too long, the word ‘Fulani Pastoralist’ has been profiled and criminalized as synonymous with banditry, kidnapping and terrorism”.

The groups said 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, urging 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 in the last few months, hundreds of innocent pastoralists have been killed 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 rustled or killed, and 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 NEMA and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons NCFRMI to provide relief materials to displaced pastoralists “as it does for other communities”.

They also 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, calling it “a historic decision that gave us hope after 60 years of agitation.” But it said the ministry “remains largely unfunded and without a clear operational framework” years after its creation.

It appealed for the ministry “to be seen active at the community level”, and asked the President and the National Assembly to allocate at least 30 per cent of the agricultural budget to it, to “immediately gazette and protect the 417 grazing reserves”, and to start pilot ranches and fodder production 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”.

It 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, with a mandate of “Truth, Justice, Forgiveness, Compensation, and a Roadmap for Peaceful Co-existence.” The groups also listed responsibilities for pastoralist communities, urging leaders, households and young people to respect farmers’ rights and lawful property, take “reasonable measures to prevent livestock from entering cultivated farmland”, and cooperate with lawful security investigations.

They urged them to report cattle rustling and kidnapping, and to 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, advocating “justice without discrimination, security without exclusion, development without marginalization, and peaceful coexistence based on mutual respect and the rule of law.” END