Anxiety In Kogi As Women, Children Of Herdsmen Move Into Villages

…Save us from Fulani occupation, Yoruba

communities tell Gani Adams

…Tag Gov. Bello’s approval of herdsmen

colony a time bomb

…Fulani in Kaba-Bunu didn’t come with govt

permission — Fanwo

Since the return to civil rule in 1999 Kogi

State has been one of the theatres of

unusual socio-political spectacles in Nigeria.

From the first tenure of the late Prince

Abubakar Audu when virtually every state

monument was named after him, to the

present times, the state remains a

flashpoint.

Past occurrences in Kogi had controversially

altered political configurations, defied logic

and set contentious precedents.

Frankly, it has been a pattern that often

leaves most sections of the multi-cultural

state aggrieved. It also usually lengthens the

socio-political fault lines that define the

state’s DNA.

For the state, it has been a history of

opportunism and violation of peoples’ rights,

as leadership had hardly been a platform for

developing and bonding of its diverse people.

Till date, some believe that public service

remains an avenue to score personal

political points. Successively, its political

leaders ended up dividing the state with

unpopular policies.

Today, the decision of the state governor,

Alhaji Yahaya Bello to provide land for the

proposed Cattle Colony by the Federal

Government, is generating an uneasy calm

among the populace.

Bello believes his decision is in the interest

of the people. And he considers it a measure

that will quickly curb the incessant bloody

clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

In every practical sense, the governor seems

to mean well. Bello’s vision in that regard

was better explained by his Chief Press

Secretary, Petra Onyegbule in a statement

indicating Kogi’s readiness to be the pilot

state for the project.

Ownership of communal land

She explained the rationale behind what has

become a contentious policy thus: “The

governor wishes to allay the fears of the

indigenes of Kogi State, especially on

ownership of communal land, that the policy

is never an indirect attempt by the Federal

Government to take and handover ancestral

land to herdsmen.

“To ensure that everyone is carried along in

this process, Kogi State, through the Ministry

of Agriculture, will soon be embarking on a

series of stakeholders’ engagement to

sensitise the people, farmers, cattle breeders

and other stakeholders on the

implementation of the new policy.

“The traditional rulers, leaders of various

communities, opinion leaders, religious

leaders and the entire citizens will all be

carried along in the course of the

stakeholder’s engagement so that we can

collectively study the merits and demerits of

the policy.

“This will enable us to jointly find solutions

to the demerit and at the same time improve

on the merits to make it work for our state

and for our people without any form of

grievances.”

Anger, tension, and fear among major ethnic

While the governor had further defended and

promoted the move at different fora,

Saturday Vanguard observed that the

development has so far triggered anger,

tension, and fear among the major ethnic

groups in the state.

It was gathered that fear is more palpable

among the Igala and Yoruba. The Yoruba in

Kogi West Senatorial District and Igala in

Kogi East Senatorial District are the most

audible voices in their rejection of the

proposed colony.

Instructively, the tone and thrust of their

messages share striking similarities, as they

vehemently rejected the proposed colony

should the state government site it in their

respective areas.

Consider this: The Yoruba under the

auspices of the Okun Development

Association, ODA, said the idea of

establishing cattle colonies is repugnant to

equity, fairness and natural justice. The ODA

said experience in the past had shown that

most of the herdsmen in Okunland had at

will attacked their hosts.

It further said any proposal to appropriate

their land for the promotion of the private

business interests of Fulani herdsmen would

deny them their right to their ancestral land

and would be a time bomb.

Colony is distasteful, dangerous

In summary, ODA said cattle colony is

distasteful, dangerous and that the

controversy over the issue can snowball into

a major national disaster.

Similarly, the Igala in a petition signed by

the President of the Igala Project, Mr. Atayi

Babs, and the Secretary-General, Mallam

Musa Haruna opposed the move.

Like the Yoruba, the Igala said siting cattle

colony in their land would lead to the

breakdown of law and order with killings and

wanton destruction of property.

A statement in that regard said: “Mr.

President, our opposition to this move and

the hasty approval given by the state

governor is further reinforced by the

inescapable fact that under your presidency,

murderous Fulani herdsmen have enjoyed

subtle protection and favouritism to the

extent that these herdsmen, who now treat

Nigeria as a conquered territory, will

eventually go beyond the purview of the so-

called colony to destroy farmlands, maim

and kill under the slightest provocation.

“In view of the above and many more, we

the undersigned concerned people of Kogi-

East, Kogi State, North-Central, Nigeria, state

as follows: We do not want cattle colony or

grazing reserve in our land. We reject any

attempt to convert or transfer the ownership

of ancestral lands in Igala to cattle colony

master or owners who operate by killing

people, destroying communities and

farmlands while enjoying government

protection from counter-attack, arrest or

prosecution. We reject attempts to turn Igala

land into the next killing field of marauding

Fulani herdsmen.”

While the governor’s tribe, Ebira has not

come out like the Yoruba and Igala, Saturday

Vanguard learnt that people of that ethnic

group have kicked against the move in

individual and group capacities.

Relocation to Yoruba communities

Amid this growing anxiety across the state,

checks by Saturday Vanguard revealed that

Fulani herdsmen have commenced

relocation to the state a few weeks ago.

The development which perhaps is in line

with Bello’s invitation to the Fulani who may

be facing difficulties elsewhere to relocate

to the state was learnt to have taken place

on January 21, 2018. Saturday Vanguard was

told that another batch of herdsmen arrived

on January 24, 2017 with women and

children. They were said to have arrived at

the location said to between Iluke Bunu and

Ofere Bunu in the same Local Government

Area. Numbering over one hundred, they

were said to have comprised mostly of

women, and children, who arrived Bunu in

Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area with

household items, herders’ sticks and

livestock among others.

It was further learnt that upon interrogation

by the natives, the herdsmen said they were

asked to relocate to the town by a District

Head in Bwari, a suburb in the Federal

Capital Territory, FCT.

To justify their claim, the headers presented

a copy of the letter of authority, which

indeed confirmed that they were asked to

relocate to that community.

An electronic copy of the letter sighted by

Saturday Vanguard which was written in the

Hausa language showed that it originated

from a District Head in Bwari and equally

bore the stamp of his office.

Letter of authority

It contained directives to the herdsmen and

their families to move to the “town of Kabba

in Kogi State.”

Irked by the situation, the natives of Bunu

and others from other parts of Yoruba

speaking areas of the state have been

lamenting over what they described as an

attempt to make their future generations

become slaves in their land.

Bunu Peoples Forum in a piece by Mr. King-

Alfred Maseko narrated the development

thus: “On the night of January 21, 2018, at

about midnight, we got a report that a trailer

load of Fulani invaded our district. They

were sighted along the road close to Iluke at

the heart of Bunu District. Bunu is a district

in Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of

Kogi State. Amongst her endowments is a

large and fertile landmass, peace-loving

people and a serene environment. Despite

the underdevelopment and apparent

marginalization, especially in infrastructural

facilities agriculture is the foremost

occupation.

Trailer-load of Fulani herdsmen

“The innocent farmers, traditional leaders

and even, the vigilantes in the village had no

prior information or knowledge of this

strange migrants’ movement into the town.

They are in excess of a hundred, mostly

women and children. They came with their

food, beddings, herdsmen’s sticks, and other

household items. They said they have a

letter of authority. The letter written in

Hausa language was sighted and was

instructive on their relocation to our land for

settlement from a certain Seriki in Bwari,

Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC. Their

male adults were said to be on their way.

Another report said they claimed to be going

to another village within our district on the

invitation of another Seriki, but the said

seriki replied inquiry that he is not aware of

their coming.

No to cattle colony in Okun land

“This worrisome incident happened, after the

governor of Kogi State offered Kogi State to

be the pilot state for the implementation of

Cattle Colony and after various groups in

Kogi including Okun Development

Association, Bunu Peoples’ Forum and Bunu

Interest Group came out openly to say no to

cattle colony on Okun land.

“The Nigeria constitution does not give

freedom to a group of people to settle

anywhere they like without consultation with

the host community and modalities agreed

upon. We consider this invasion of Fulani on

our land a great security threat to our

existence, especially farming, fishing,

hunting, and timbering among others at this

crucial moment in which the Federal

Government of Nigeria confirmed to have

identified some terrorists in Kogi, Benue and

Edo states respectively.

“We, therefore, call on all meaningful

Nigerians within and in the diaspora, lovers

of Bunu people, alongside international

human rights and security bodies to come to

our aid.

Indigenization of Fulani in Yoruba speaking-

communities

“Bunu District is made up of 44 villages

without a single functioning police station

and Army barracks. Only two villages have

epileptic power supply, while our road

networks are bad. If the government cannot

help us, they should not compound our

problems as we are law abiding citizens and

don’t deserve tension and hostile decisions.”

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard on the

subject, Chairman of Okun Progressive

Forum, OPF, Chief Solomon Ekundayo said

what seemed like the indigenization of the

Fulani in Yoruba speaking communities is an

invitation to trouble.

Consequently, he appealed to the governor

to listen to the cries of the Okun/Yoruba and

reconsider his decision.

“What we are witnessing is tragedy in the

making. We have lived happily for years in

this land of our ancestors but we have come

to a point where the worst may happen to

our land. There are Fulani, who peacefully

graze here the way it was done in other

communities in the past, but making them

indigenes of our communities is an invitation

to trouble,’’ he stated.

Buttressing his opinion with past instances,

a saddened Ekundayo said: “Look at what is

happening in Benue and other parts of

Nigeria where the Fulani herdsmen kill

aborigines. Who will see that and still invite

the Fulani to come and settle here?

Governor Bello is not being fair to this state.

We don’t know why he is always quick to

please the people in Abuja. That young man

has set the stage for future violent clashes

in our communities.

Bello is not being fair to this state.

“I am happy that he is a young man and

would live to see the dangers he has brought

to our land. We are also appealing to our

Yoruba kit and kin in the South West to

come to our aid at a time like this because

our place is an extension of Yoruba land.

The Aare Onakankanfo of Yorubaland should

not look the other way while the Fulani take

over our heritage. Our ancestors fought and

protected the Yoruba land against Nupe

invaders during the inter-tribal wars of

centuries past. It will not augur well if we

are left to our fate. It is sad that Okun

appointees in government are silent over the

danger the situation portends for our land.

So long as power remains transient, they will

reap the fruits of this policy someday ”

Additional checks by Saturday Vanguard

confirmed that these positions, however,

captured the mood of the Yoruba speaking

communities.

The fears boil down to the notion that the

situation would eventually trigger indigene/

settler violent clashes as witnessed in

places like Zango Kataf, Benue and Jos

North Local Government Area among others.

Fulani in Kabba-Bunu didn’t come with govt

permission

Dismissing fears that the programme would

usher in an era of violent clashes in the

state, Director General on Media and

Publicity in the state, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo

told Saturday Vanguard that the Fulani who

migrated recently to Kabba-Bunu did not

come with the state government’s

permission.

Consequently, he said that security agencies

are on top of the situation.

He said: “Even before the cattle colony was

mooted, the Kogi State government has

embraced inclusiveness as a way of giving

the Fulani a sense of belonging. Violence is

always a product of insecurity in the first

place. The Fulani have been living with us

for decades. We are not saying that there

are no criminals among them. Of course,

every society has criminals. The best way to

get the criminals among them is to use their

leaders to expose them. The state

government has always maintained robust

communication with the leaders of the

Fulanis in the state.

“Those who came to Kabba Bunu didn’t

come with the permission of the state

government. The letter they purportedly

presented didn’t emanate from the state

government nor the Federal Government.

Security agencies are on top of the

situation.

“We do not need to create a situation of fear

and tension in the State. We can give useful

information to security agencies and avoid

falsehood that could set the state on fire. A

Kogite has every right to live anywhere in

Nigeria. Other Nigerians also have the right

to live in Kogi State. What is paramount is

peace and development. We should avoid

hate speeches and panic creation.

“In Kogi, we have over 10 non-indigenes

holding sensitive government positions. Kogi

is a microcosm of the larger Nigeria. Let us

preach unity and peace.

“A lot of misconceptions have been

unfortunately injected into the whole idea to

scandalize the government. Kogi State

government will never mortgage the interest

of the people. It is unfortunate that

politicians are using the cattle colony issue

as a political tool to rally the people against

a great idea of government.’’