The Federal Government’s announcement of the formation and training of a 3,000-strong force to be known as Agro-Rangers to protect farmers and secure farm investments throughout the country was received with great relief by many Nigerians. It is an idea long overdue. The conflict between Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers may be as old as Nigeria itself, but in recent years, it has assumed a murderous dimension and fueled periodic communal strife, massive destruction of lives and property, and the displacement of thousands of citizens.
The clashes have escalated and incidents have been recorded in most parts of the country. Recent sensational incidents occurred in states such as Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Niger, Nassarawa, Edo, Delta, Enugu, Abia, Ondo and Kaduna.
We commend the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and his counterpart at the Interior Ministry, Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Dambazzau, whose initiative and collaboration led to the formation of the unit. Tributes also go to the Noah Auta committee in the Ministry of Agriculture which came up with the idea and worked out the operational modalities of the programme.
The Agro-Rangers will constitute a special unit in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the first 3,000 members are currently undergoing weapons training in the Nigerian Army. The ministers hope that they would have completed their training in the next few weeks and be ready for deployment to guard and protect farms and ranches from kidnappers, herdsmen, cattle rustlers and other criminal elements.
We think the Agro-Rangers scheme is an appropriate response to the enormous security challenges which the herdsmen and rustlers have posed in recent times. The number of members of the force appears grossly inadequate, given the vastness of the areas that need to be covered. We are, however, encouraged by the fact that what matters most in the circumstance is the idea of providing some sense of security for farmers through the symbolic and proverbial “federal might.” The new unit should be deployed in the rural areas, especially on those spots where previous incidents of herdsmen-farmers clashes have been reported.
Sadly, in many communities in the country, the fear of herdsmen has created both psychological and physical obstacles to the occupation of crop farmers. The situation has become desperate in many towns and villages where individuals are now afraid to venture alone into their farms unless they are accompanied by neighbours and relatives.
Since the Agro-Rangers would be drawn from the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps, the agency should always be on stand-by to back them up, should any difficulties arise. Because of its low number, the Agro-Rangers must be motorised to enable it respond quickly to urgent calls for help or to seek assistance from other security organisations. Thus, it is necessary that the operations of the unit should be linked with other security organisations in terms of exchange of information, data on crime, ideas on logistics and general security.
We urge the Federal Government to give this programme its full support to enable it achieve its objectives. The nation cannot attain food security and self sufficiency in an atmosphere where farmers are afraid to go to their farms for fear of danger to their lives from herdsmen and kidnappers. We are gratified to know that the Federal Government has finally been persuaded that ranches must necessarily be the future of cattle rearing in Nigeria, as expressed by the Ministers of Agriculture and the Interior, who last week spoke of bringing the nation’s cattle together in manageable environments that would provide the platform to finally solve the perennial conflict between herdsmen and crop farmers. In those ranches, the ministers said, grasses, water and veterinary services would be provided and no herdsman would have any excuse to roam. If they do, they would be sure they are breaking the law and should be brought to book.
