- Still on killer herdsmen
For decades, he has been a prominent feature on Nigeria’s geographical landscape. There is hardly any part of the country that you would not find the ubiquitous herdsman, mostly of Hausa-Fulani extraction, tending his cattle and steering the animals along time-worn paths in search of pasture and water. We have in recent times, however, witnessed the transformation of the herdsman armed with a stick, a small bag by his side containing his water pouch and, perhaps, a short knife, into a menacing monster, wielding the most sophisticated weapons and causing devastation in host communities across the country.
By some estimates, the victims that the marauding herdsmen have sent to their untimely graves now exceed the number of those murdered by the Boko Haram insurgents, particularly in the North-East zone of the country. The destructive and disruptive activities of the nomadic herdsmen in the South-West dates as far back as year 2000 when they clashed with host communities in parts of Oyo State, leading to a famous face-off between then Governor Lam Adeshina and a delegation of leaders of the Fulani herdsmen. However, it was the abduction of elder statesman and former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), Chief Olu Falae, from his farm in Ondo State in 2015, by a band of Fulani herdsmen that drew fresh attention to the temerity these criminal elements had acquired.
Luckily, Chief Falae was later released without bodily harm but understandably psychologically bruised by the tortuous experience after some ransom had been paid. It is soul-lifting that the culprits were apprehended and made to face the sanctions of law.
A new dimension now appears to have been added to the herdsmen’s lawlessness in the South-West. Oyo State government has cried out that the herdsmen are now rearing their cattle in some schools in the state. According to the state commissioner for education, science and technology, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, “there are various complaints on cattle rearing across schools. One was reported to have happened at Government College, Ibadan. Though it is prevalent in Oke Ogun, it happens everywhere in the state. We have monitors going around our schools and we won’t tolerate such”.
We wholeheartedly endorse the warning of the Oyo State government that such cattle found grazing in her schools will be confiscated and their owners prosecuted. It is surely because they have been treated with kid gloves even as they kill, rape and maim innocent citizens and destroy their sources of livelihood all over the country that the herdsmen have been perpetrating their nefarious activities with impunity, as if they are above the laws of the land.
We are, of course, not unmindful of the complaint of some of the herdsmen that they are victims of cattle rustlers who seek to rob them of their source of livelihood. It is our position that anybody found violating the rights of others and flouting the law should be brought to book.
It is the height of insensitivity for herdsmen to rear their cattle in school premises where children and their teachers could easily be put at risk. The relevant security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have been inexcusably tardy in checking the excesses of the herdsmen. It is also difficult to understand why it is taking eternity for the government to actualise its plan to restrict cattle grazing to modern ranches in specific locations, as this will minimise clashes between herdsmen and their host communities.
We urge governors in the affected states to come up with appropriate laws that will ensure the arrest and prosecution of these criminal elements.
