Herdsmen/farmers clashes: Northern senators caution leaders on inciting comments

As mixed reactions trail the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in some parts of the country, community leaders have been urged not to make inflammatory comments that would heat up the polity.

Senators, under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum, stated this at a press conference in Abuja, Wednesday.

Chairman of the forum, Abdullahi Adamu, assured that members of the group would work assiduously to enact laws and amend existing ones in order to promote the interest of Northern Nigeria in particular and the country at large.

Clashes between herdsmen and farmers have claimed thousands of lives and destroyed properties worth billions of naira in Benue, Taraba, Enugu, Ondo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau and Nasarawa states, even as some traditional rulers have lost their lives in the process.

But, according to Adamu, the categorisation of all herdsmen as Fulanis is a misnomer, explaining that Nigerians from other tribes are also involved in cattle rearing.

“I have a farm, I rear cows. I am not Fulani by birth. And if you go through Northern states, you will see a lot of them. In fact, if you go to the East, you will see young men who have assimilated with the Fulanis in their various communities and they are involved in cattle rearing.

“It creates the wrong impression that everybody you see with a cow is a Fulani man. And therefore becomes a common target for the present problem we are addressing as a government,” he said.

He further disclosed that the forum resolved to continue its complete support for President Muhammadu Buhari in order to bring even development to all sections of the country.

The senator traced the categorisation of all herdsmen as Fulanis to the South West during the abduction of elder statesman and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae, only for the abductors to be apprehended and it was discovered to be untrue.

On threats by a section of the country asking all Fulani herdsmen to leave their areas, the senator appealed for calm, saying: “If we now say that everybody should rise and say herdsmen should leave, we will not have a country.”

The lawmaker said efforts were on by the Northern senators to come up with legislation on how to coordinate the activities of herdsmen to avoid frequent clashes.