The Jigawa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ahmed T. Abdullah, has confirmed the killing of people and the burning of some houses as the herders/farmers conflict worsens in the state.
This was contained in a press statement issued, signed, and made available to the Online Tribune in Dutse, the state capital, by the police command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Lawal Shiisu Adams.
The statement said, “At about 4 pm on Tuesday, the command received information from reliable sources that herders with a large number of cattle from Katsina State, on the invitation of the indigenous herders, were sighted moving towards Safa and Gauraki villages in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area. As a result of this, farmlands along the route were destroyed.”
The Police Public Relations Office disclosed further that “on receipt of the ugly report, the Area Commander of Birnin Kudu Area Command mobilised patrol teams alongside the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) and rushed to the scenes.”
According to the statement, “farmers were also mobilised in large numbers to defend their farmlands before the arrival of a team of security personnel at the areas.”
DSP Lawal Shiisu Adams explained that, consequently, the two groups attacked each other. However, the timely arrival of the security team succeeded in dispersing the warring parties.
He noted that two people had lost their lives, one from each side, while the visiting herders made off with their cows.
“Three of the indigenous herders’ houses were set on fire, 15 cows of the visiting herders were abandoned and found, and five indigenous herders who were thought to have invited the herders were taken into custody.”
The police commissioner disclosed that normalcy has been restored as police tactical teams, in collaboration with local vigilantes, hunters, and Yan Bulala, have been deployed to the areas to forestall further breaches of peace.
He stated further that an investigation has commenced, and anyone found guilty after a discreet investigation will be prosecuted accordingly.
Findings by the Online Tribune in the state indicated that herders and farmers’ bloody clashes started in Baranda Forest, which had been shared among some elites and top government officials by the previous government.
The Online Tribune gathered that a number of indigenous herders living in the forest were displaced and left with inadequate grazing reserves and cattle routes in the forest.
The investigation revealed that earlier, the state government, under Governor Malam Umar Namadi, had suspended all illegal land allocations for game and grazing reserves in the state.
The governor consequently set up a committee under the Secretary to the State Government, Malam Bala Ibrahim, which had already submitted a report to the government.
Tribune Online in the state further gathered that weeks after the committee’s submission of the report, the crisis started and continued.
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