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Fulani Herdsmen As Terrorists! By SOC Okenwa

January 25, 2018

What is terrorism and who is a terrorist? These questions beg for answers given what Nigerians have just recently gone through in some parts of Benue State and had gone through in the past up north.

What is terrorism and who is a terrorist? These questions beg for answers given what Nigerians have just recently gone through in some parts of Benue State and had gone through in the past up north. Though the definition varies in broader terms terrorism could be defined in a layman's language as a violent or aggressive penchant to intimidate or conquer a people. A terrorist is he or she who believes in a crude ideology, one that sees violence or aggression as a way of imposing his or her will or wish on others. By sowing the seed of fear arising from bloody engagements the terrorist seeks to command and control his/her environment by force of arms. His/her argument may be shallow, stupid or nonsensical but (s)he pushes it through with force, by force. 

Religion represents the greatest weapon employed by the terrorists to gain acceptance among the vulnerable members of any society. They would tell them that they are doing what they are doing in Allah's will promising them 'paradise' upon death! That is why you see a lot of jobless youths being recruited to kill and die and go to 'heaven' as martyrs! Some of them call the campaign 'jihad' -- that is, a war against the infidels or the impure in their hubristic imaginations. It is indeed a global problem but every country affected has its way and manner of dealing with the problem to suit their democratic environment.

Nigeria was not used to terrorism of any kind until the late Mohammed Yusuf came up with the Boko Haram (BH) insurgent group in Maiduguri, Borno state, many years ago. Prior to his emergence, we witnessed criminal acts like armed robbery, oil bunkering, bank fraud and violent demonstrations by disgruntled people. Yusuf and his gangsters were very moderate in their armed campaign aimed primarily at protesting against the moral delinquency in the society and the abandonment of the 'talakawas' by the ruling elite. But in a desperate bid to contain their disturbing activities the federal government resorted to state terrorism to fight the BH terrorism. And in the process of a military operation akin to war the security forces sent to combat the misguided elements overzealously killed Yusuf extra-judicially! The rest is history.

Enter Abubakar Shekau. As Yusuf was eliminated Shekau stepped into his shoes since nature abhors a vacuum. For years now post-Yusuf Shekau has carved a niche for himself as an enigma, a cat with nine lives! He has proven his capacity to survive despite the government's propaganda to the contrary. He has demonstrated his 'professionalism' and ability to lead his troops even in Sambisa Forest. There is no iota of doubt that he is more organized, more bloody and more deadly than the late Yusuf. Shekau has effortfully turned BH into a money-making and killing machine feared by all and sundry. 

Before President Buhari came to power Shekau had seized some territories in the north hoisting the black flag of jihadists around the world and claiming invincibility. Though Buhari has beaten back the group heroically reclaiming the places hitherto under their command and control the BH leader has refused to concede defeat even when the president had described them as "technically beaten". But now Shekau has devised a new strategy: using mad men and women strapped with bombs which could be detonated from a distance via a remote-control device. Today the explosion of bombs in marketplaces and even inside mosques are a daily bloody staple. The BH war has gone nuclear, therefore, involving the insane, science and technology!


Officially the Boko Haram group is known globally as a terrorist organization based in Nigeria but affiliated with Daesh. The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by the fugitive Nnamdi Kanu was officially declared a "terrorist group" by the government using the instrumentality of the law. Yet Kanu and his pro-Biafra elements never committed arson, murder or dispossession of land or properties. Rather they had waged a bloodless campaign for a Biafran nationhood -- something which is not a crime constitutionally speaking. Despite their non-violent nature, however, the Buhari regime felt obliged to outlaw their activities even when the international community disagreed with such appellation.

And now enter Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, better known as Fulani herdsmen. Cattle rearing or breeding business is a private one and it is not new in Nigeria. Among the Fulanis, it represents their major source of livelihood. Even President Buhari, himself a Fulani, is a cattle breeder, so an executive herdsman. He owns a large farm-yard somewhere in Daura. It is therefore very difficult for such a president to take a decisive action against his 'brothers' roaming dangerously with AK-47 with which they terrorize others. But there is a limit to what one could endure.

The recent gory events in some parts of Benue state seemed to have exposed us as species living in an animal kingdom! They appeared to suggest that we have surrendered ourselves to the vicissitudes of nomadic threats. How could scores of people have been massacred in their homes by enemies within? Were they not enough to revive our sense of revulsion? What is more? The impunity that accompanied such bloodbath whenever or wherever they happened had not interrogated enough the prevailing atmosphere of helplessness by those we elected to protect lives and property?

The problem is that the present administration has done little or nothing to tame the nomadic monsters, cow masters et al. No organized armed group on such a killing rampage should be treated with kid-gloves. Kanu and his IPOB boys and girls in the east did not do a quarter of what Miyetti Allah had done thus far yet they were swiftly dealt with operation python dance and chased away. Perhaps, as some critics said, the herdsmen are being tolerated by the executive arm of government because they are Fulanis! But to hell with such sentimental ethnic assumption. 

Any violent group that goes into shedding the blood of the innocent to prosper their animal business must be summarily given a bloody nose to serve as a deterrent to others at large. The palliative measures being proposed by the federal government (cow colonies, ranches and whatever) to tackle the menace may prove not to be the long-term solution to the problem. The Fulanis leading their cows to graze in other people's lands and farms must be told to cultivate a culture of decency and respect the landowners. Whenever they lose a cow they must not kill a human being in revenge for, a cow is a cow and a human. The two cannot be the same in the scheme of things.

The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, once told us that most of these killers were not even Nigerians but foreigners feeding on our collective tolerance if not ignorance of their origin. El-Rufai also proposed paying them off but that was a nasty way of resolving the issue. Paying them or compensating them for doing what or losing what? If there should be any compensation then their victims ought to be so compensated and not the aggressors. If they were from Niger, Chad or wherever they must be made to respect the laws of our land. And the dignity of our people. What they are doing in Nigeria they would not probably do same in their native lands.

From all indications the Fulani herdsmen are a bunch of pampered criminals sabotaging the efforts of the federal and state governments at socio-economic development of the nation. They are madmen, gunmen and constitute a nuisance to the system. And as such, they are nothing but a terrorist organization, pure and simple! No matter the amount of moral or logistical support they are getting from the high and mighty in Abuja and elsewhere we refuse to accommodate their nuisance in our lands. 

Enough of their primitive provocation and invasion. No man is good enough to be the master of another! No man's land exists only in the borders between countries. You cannot invade my farmland at wee hours of the night destroying crops and killing my people and expecting me to see you as a good compatriot or a friend. That is unacceptable anywhere in the world! Only in Nigeria could such absurdity be allowed to fester by the authorities.

Beyond the present and future dangers associated with the herdsmen national invasion of our agro-cultural space, something that could invariably engender a national emergency situation, the urgency of now demands a para-military operation against the Fulani terrorists. Just like Operation Python Dance or Operation Crocodile Smile we need Operation 'Dan-Banza' to nip the intrusion in the bud.

By SOC Okenwa
[email protected]

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