If they were herdsmen, they would have minded their cattle, but because they have some other missions, they now leave blood and tears wherever they go. They have become merchants of death.
In the days when herdsmen were real herdsmen, they made friends with members of host community, who went to the extent of harboring them for some days. In some places, community members used to collect the cattle dung which they used as manure in their farms. It was a symbiotic relationship at that level.
No one raised any alarm of harm done to his or her farmland. The herdsmen never strayed into people’s farmlands. Even though they were largely illiterates, they knew what was right and wrong and they also knew their boundaries.
The real herdsman moved with bows and arrows, which gave rise to the saying in parts of the country that “it is not today we have started to see Hausa and bow.”
Today, all that has changed. The herdsman has lost his innocence. The true herdsman has been replaced by a band of assassins, mindless murderers, who go on killing spree in the name of leading out cattle for grazing. They invade communities at will and with their wicked machetes and dagger they slash the throats of innocent citizens and rip open their stomachs without provocation whatsoever.
Today’s herdsman operates like the Boko Haram. It is difficult to say now that it is not a member of the Islamist sect trying desperately to expand their territory.
For years, the Boko Haram has been localised in the North East geo-political zone of the country, but it appears the group has found a cogent reason to invade the southern part of the country by other means.
Although it is not yet established, allegations are rife that today’s herdsmen are being sponsored to carry out the dastardly acts, for whatever reason.
Those who trade the accusation say the poverty-stricken Fulani herdsman has no wherewithal to eat good food, let alone acquiring dangerous weapons, AK47 inclusive, which he uses for his murderous escapades.
Speaking on a television programme, Rima Shawulu, chairman, House Committee on Army, vehemently condemned the rampaging and destructive nature of today’s so-called herdsmen, arguing that their identity could have been misunderstood.
The lawmaker, who condemned the National Grazing Commission Bill, said it was ill-conceived and would not fly.
He wondered how the proponents of the bill expected Nigerians to give away their lands for grazing purposes in a country where ownership of landed property is guaranteed by the law.
According to him, “The bill is unconstitutional. The cattle-rearing is an economic activity; farming is equally an economic activity, which of them is more important? If you want to do a fish farming, you go to an owner of a piece of land and negotiate with the person to acquire the land for the purpose. You don’t just enter someone’s land because you want to do fish farming. So, herdsmen cannot just invade someone’s land without reaching an understanding with the owner of the land,” Shawulu said.
The lawmaker also wondered who acquired the AK47 with which the herdsmen are committing the atrocities.
“Where did they get the money to acquire the AK47 they are carrying about? Most of the cattle are not owned by the Fulani poor, but the rich men living in cities. If you are rearing cattle, you must provide for your cattle. It is no more fashionable for herdsmen to be moving about with their cattle. That practice has become obsolete. The practice makes it difficult for us to get milk from the cattle. So, must we because of only the meat we get destroy farmlands and wipe off everybody? My worry is that we have fewer cattle now and we have increased cases of killings by herdsmen, something does not add up here,” he said.
Liborous Oshoma, a legal practitioner, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently take action against the herdsmen.
Oshoma also blamed the concentration of power in Abuja without allowing state governors to have control over the police in their domain.
He recalled when there was a massacre in Jos, Plateau State, when Jonah Jang was the governor and the man said his hands were tied. The legal practitioner and public affairs commentator said state police had increasing become necessary with the reality on ground, arguing that the vigilantes that are being formed in the states are no longer able to contain the increasing insecurity posed by the herdsmen.
According to him, “Government must restrict the movements of these herdsmen. Today, if somebody wants to commit atrocities, he claims to be a herdsman. We hear about the herdsmen carrying AK47, who gave them these arms?
It would be recalled that the Grazing Commission Bill sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure from Niger State, which many say may have emboldened the herdsmen to carry out their nefarious activities, has scaled a second reading at the Senate, amid virulent opposition. The other day, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, rejected the bill, saying the bill seeks to turn private cattle rearing into a national affair by setting up a Federal body to take care of interest of herdsmen against the interest of other occupations.
Leader of the group, Reuben Fasoranti said the bill if passed into law would forcefully take land from state government and individual owners in violation of the Land Use of Act and all legal means of land holding for the purpose of grazing reserves.
He noted that the bill also goes further to prescribe a fine of N500,000 or five years imprisonment or both for the owners of the land if they are found on such land taken over by the commission.
Also condemning the bill, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Joe Nworgu, said there was a subtle Islamisation agenda behind the bill and that it was not just one seeking to create grazing routes for the Fulani herdsmen.
“Although the call for grazing might be as a result of global warming which had made Savannah zone to lack grasses for cattle, to many people in Igboland, the grazing reserve has a hidden agenda as it could be a ploy to Islamise the entire country.
“We do not want the Federal Government to be involved in the grazing reserve matter as it is unconstitutional for the government to use public money to fund private enterprise.
“Cattle rearing is purely private business and if the need be, let the owners of cattle establish ranches to domesticate their animals. It is injustice to force people to surrender their land for another set of people for private use,” he said.
A chieftain of Igbo Kwenu, another Igbo group, Bizmark Okoro, said the bill was dead on arrival and one that intended to confer undue advantage of Fulani herdsmen over other Nigerians.
“In a democratic society, you do not make such law where you take people’s land and give it to another set of people. That means Fulani’s herdsmen have two heads.
“Host communities will not take it kindly as it will lead to anarchy in the land. The constitution said all citizens of this country are equal. You cannot say you are acquiring the land for public purpose. It is meant for only one set of people- the herdsmen. It amounts to discrimination,” he said.
Zebulon Agomuo
