The Rise Of Fulani Militants As World 4th Terror

By Law Mefor  

It is a story of the untouchables. They grew bolder and stronger right under our watch, while entrenched political and busi­ness interests force government af­ter government to feign ignorance and look the other way as they commit atrocities. They prance through the lengths and breadths of Nigeria with AK47 assault ri­fles, machine guns and sundry war weapons, killing, raping, maiming and sacking and razing communi­ties without consequences.

Call them ‘Fulani militants’ or ‘Fulani herdsmen’ or ‘cattle rustlers’. Whatever you choose to call them, it is the same gang of criminals who have grown and gained global record, since 2014, as the world’s 4th deadliest terror group, inferior only to ISIS, Al- Shabaab and of cause their kin called Boko Haram.

The latest in their trail of sor­row, tears and blood (as Fela would put it) is the ongoing Agatu mas­sacre, which prompted President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Fulani, to order an investigation on February 28, 2016. Before the Agatu massacre, cattle herdsmen and cattle rustlers have caused similar mayhem in most parts of the Middle Belt, especially Plateau, Kogi and Benue. Other parts of the country are equally not spared by the rampaging brigands - Kaduna, Enugu, Imo, Zamfara, Kano, Kat­sina and many other States all have tales of woe about their gory visita­tions.

They come in the dead of the night when villagers are deep asleep and set their houses on fire. Those who manage to escape are shot. Their brazen killing of over 60 in Zamfara in 2014 was an opera­tion that lasted for hours with law enforcement agents doing nothing. From experience, therefore, noth­ing comes out of investigations launched into their evil activities and this has made them to grow wilder and stronger.

They are brazen and fearless and appear to enjoy consider­able political cover from the high and mighty. For example, rather than help find solutions to these increasing wars between Fulani militants and farmers, some peo­ple who are in a position to broker peace encourage their activities. Such persons like Mallam Nasir El- Rufai, former minister of the FCT and now Governor of Ka­duna State, who rather than find solutions to such threat to national security, could only tweet on July 15, 2012: “We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not, that kills the Fulani takes a loan repay­able one day no matter how long it takes”. Tacit approvals of such divi­sive and dangerous activities and unwitting protectiveness of those who perpetrate them, are no doubt contributing to their brazenness, arson and murder.

Their growth has been alarm­ingly steady and Government re­sponse only half-hearted. In 2013, the Fulani militants killed around 80 people in total. But by 2014, the group had killed 1,229. Operating mainly in the Middle Belt of Ni­geria and has also been known to stage attacks in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to the latest report from the Global Ter­rorism Index, the group has now gained reputation as a terror group.

The killing by Fulani herdsmen of over 60 people in Gidandawa District of Maradun Local Gov­ernment Area in Zamfara State on 14th July 2014, followed such pre­scription that leaders like El –Rufai can only offer, as sources told jour­nalists then that the attack must have been a reprisal, given that some Fulani herdsmen had issues with the villagers and farmers. This came as no fewer than 10 persons were reportedly killed in a similar attack carried out in the early hours of the previous day in the Pilgani District of Langtang North Local Government of Plateau State by gunmen believed to be the same Fulani herdsmen. About the same time, a Senator and another Hon­ourable member of House of Reps died in Plateau in a stampede fol­lowing the shooting by Fulani herdsmen.

It is therefore not surprising that the massacre of innocent vil­lagers in Agatu Local Government, Benue State, continued unabated in spite of the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that a panel of Investigation into the Fulani at­tacks on the villagers be established and the announced establishment of an inter-agency security team to forestall further attacks. They have no regard for law and order or any constituted authority as they are laws unto themselves. The villagers who took the President seriously returned home and many could not bolt to safety for believing the President’s assurances. Many died and many villages like Odugbeho-Agatu were razed as a result.

It simply means Nigeria has added yet another global notori­ety with the Fulani Militants be­ing named as 4th deadliest terror group in the world by the global terror index. This justified eleva­tion should worry every Nigerian because it is in our country and, to a lesser extent, Central African Re­public that they gained their awful bloodthirsty reputation.

Using the number of deaths caused the terror groups’ acts, Global Terrorism Index Report credited Boko Haram as hav­ing overtaken ISIS as the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation, The Nigerian-based terror group, Boko Haram, also known as Is­lamic State’s West’s Africa province (ISWAP), was responsible for 6,644 deaths in 2014 alone. In compari­son, ISIS is believed to have killed 6,073 people in the same period. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the group, also known as the Islamic State, in March 2015 and both are believed to enjoy a meas­ure of synergy.

For the avoidance of doubt, the global ranking of the deadliest terror organisations in the world stood thus as at 2014 and has since grown in greater intensity with Boko Haram displacing ISIS in the period to top the pack: Al-Shabaab (1,021), Fulani militants (1,229), Taliban (3,477), ISIS (6, 073) and Boko Haram (6,644). These figures are grossly conservative, especially where it has to do with deaths caused by Boko Haram and Fulani militants.

But more worrisome is that ter­rorism in Nigeria is avoidable if only the Government, past and present, had done the needful. What has facilitated the group’s ex­pansion in Nigeria is lack of politi­cal will to deal decisively with the causative factors. What is the big deal in convening a national sum­mit on Fulani herdsmen–Farmers’ impasse and the Federal Govern­ment and the State Governments agreeing on modalities for setting out grazing reserves and ranches? The herdsmen have to graze their cattle and the farmers have to eke out a living. Both need the land. So, why can’t the Governments across board intervene as their common superior?

Nigerians know there has been ongoing tension between Fulani communities and farming com­munities for many years. What Ni­gerians do not understand is: why Government, past and present, has allowed the tension to dramatic escalate and spread to kidnappings and killings. Few weeks ago, a tra­ditional ruler was abducted and killed by the same group in Delta State. Olu Falae suffered almost a similar fate in their hands early 2015.

The case of the Middle Belt of Nigeria is most pathetic as it is where the mainly Christian South meets the predominantly Muslim north and therefore very vital to the unity of the country. Though often portrayed as the aggressors in central Nigeria‘s sectarian strife, the minority Fulani complain of suffering from inferior treatment. Despite living in the region for years, the Fulani are not consid­ered indigenous to the area and have reduced access to land, edu­cation and political power.

The real issue is therefore indi­genes versus non-indigenes, as expressed here in grazing rights. It is as a result of the failure of governments to come out with sustainable containment policies. Successive Governments have paid only lip-service to the urgent need to establish grazing reserves and ranches so that the nomadic Fulani herdsmen can live a more seden­tary life and be at peace with their host farming communities.

The Muhammadu Buhari Gov­ernment recently committed to creating grazing reserves as a pre­cursor to a more permanent solu­tion. But like others before him, he is yet to take up the issue with the seriousness it deserves and save lives and properties that the activities of cattle herdsmen have continued to claim around the country.

May Nigerians learn to treat fel­low Nigerians like humans too lest we all likewise, perish. Human life is worth so little in today’s Nigeria and citizens are hardly alarmed anymore by the carnage spread­ing in many forms and growing impunity. What Nigeria cannot certainly afford is hosting another terrorist group with Boko Haram. Government should resolve the Fulani herdsmen - farmers’ ghastly conflict without further delay.

*Mefor could be reached with lawmefor@gmail.com