2 Killed, Houses Burnt As Herders Clash With Farmers in Jigawa.
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
Two people have been confirmed dead and several houses burnt when herders attacked two farmers settlements in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State on Tuesday.
According to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Ahmed T. Abdullahi, the incident occurred at Safa and Gauraki villages.
The Commissioner, said in a statement issued by the command’s spokesman, DSP Lawal Shiisu Adams, that herders with a large number of cattle from Katsina state joined indigenous herders to destroy farms along the route.
“Farmers were also mobilized in large numbers to defend their farmlands before the arrival of a team of the security personnel to the area,” he added.
He added that both sides attacked each other, but the timely arrival of security personnel helped to disperse the warring parties.
Abdullahi however said two people 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’ abandoned were found, and five indigenous herders thought to have invited the herders from Katsina state, were taken into custody,” the police commissioner added.
According to him, normalcy has been restored, as police tactical teams, local vigilance groups, hunters, and ‘Yan Bulala’, have been deployed to forestall further breaches of the peace.
He stated that investigation had commenced to unmask the perpetrators.
Finding by The Syndicate indicates that the recurring bloody herders/farmers clash in the area followed the balkanisation of Baranda forest among among the elites and top government officials by the previous government.
The Syndicate gathered that a number of indigenous herders living in the forest were displayed and left with inadequate grazing areas, thus forcing their herds to stray into farms.
As part of efforts to end the clashes, Governor Umar Namadi had suspended all lands allocations made within game reserves and grazing areas across the state.
The governor consequently set up a committee under the Secretary to the State Government, Malam Bala Ibrahim, to identify the affected reserves, and the committee had since submitted its report to the governor.
The Syndicate reports that the clashes began after the committee submitted the report.
