Farmers/Herders Crisis: One killed, many others injured in Yobe
At least one person lost his life and many others were wounded as a result of a crisis between herders and farmers in Buni-Yadi, the headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area (LGA) of Yobe State.
The Chairman of the farmers association of Gujba LGA, Malam Ali Maibindiga, said the incident happened when herders invaded the farmlands of the deceased and all those who sustained injury.
Maibindiga said the deceased, Abdulkarim A. Usman, was killed while evacuating his farm produce while the others were injured as a result of arguments with the harders on not to invade their farmlands.
“I have to tell you that the situation is getting out of hand because Abdulkarim was killed after telling the herders to restrain from invading his farmland until he is through, which will not take long. Apart from killing Abdulkarim, two tricycles (Tabare) loaded with grains were also burnt down by the herders.
“As I am talking to you, I have more than 15 of my members shot with bow and arrow or injured with cutlass only because they stopped the herders from invading their farms though many have lost their farm produce to the herders’ invasion already,” the chairman said.
Also speaking, two injured persons, Usman Isa of Jiri village and Sama’ila Yahaya of Buni-Yadi of Gujba local government urged the government to wade into the matter as the herders are no longer ready to stop invading farmlands.
“As you can see, I am on medication due to injuries sustained on my arm and my fingers cut off by the herders. It is quite unfortunate that while farmers need little time to evacuate their farm produce, the other party thinks otherwise,” Isa said.
The chairman, Miyetti Allah cattle breeders in Gujba local government area, Alhaji Haro Abubakar, confirmed the incident attributing the annual crisis between the farmers and herders to poor planning in grazing and farming areas.
Haro, who is also the Sarkin Fulani of Gujba emirate said, “You see, farmers and herders are twin brothers but lack of demarcation for each party by the government is the major factor. We’re doing our best in enlightening our members on the need to live in peace with farmers but you know some people find it difficult to follow simple instructions and advice.”
In an effort to arrest the situation, a multi-stakeholders dialogue workshop on farmers and herders conflict in communities affected by violent clashes in the Gujba local government area was organised by Alert International, a non-governmental organisation in Damaturu.
