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The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 3:48pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Alongside the Islamist struggle to reshape society in the Sahel through violent means is a second, relatively unnoticed but equally deadly conflict with the dangerous potential of merging with jihadi efforts. At a time when resources such as land and water are diminishing in the Sahel, semi-nomadic Muslim herders of the widespread Fulani ethnic group are increasingly turning to violence against settled Christian communities to preserve their herds and their way of life. Claims of “genocide” and “forced Islamization” have become common in the region. What is primarily an economic struggle has already taken on an ethnic and religious character in Mali. If Nigeria follows the same path, it is possible that a new civil war could erupt with devastating consequences for all of West Africa. -Andrew McGregor, US Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point
[img]https://stormw.files./2016/08/sahel.jpg[/img] Sahel Region Herdsmen vs. Farmers Traditionally, Fulani herders would bring their cattle south during the post-harvest period to feed on crop residues and fertilize the land. Recently, however, environmental pressures related to climate change and growing competition for limited resources such as water and grazing land are driving herders and their cattle into agricultural areas year round, where they destroy crops. More importantly, the herders are now entering regions they have never traveled through before. The growth of agro-pastoralism, where farmers maintain their own cattle, and the expansion of farms into the traditional corridors used by the herders have contributed to the problem. The resulting violence is equal in both number and ferocity to that inflicted by Boko Haram’s insurgency but has attracted little attention beyond the Sahel, in part because it is treated as a local issue. Confrontations over damaged crops are typically followed by armed herders responding to the farmers’ anger with violence, inevitably leading to reprisal attacks on herding camps by farming communities. Traditional conflict resolution systems involving compensation and mediation have broken down, partly because new waves of herdsmen have no ties to local communities. The Fulani, in turn, accuse their host communities of cattle rustling (theft) and therefore regard punitive violence against these communities as just and appropriate. The Fulani herders complain that they are otherwise faced with the choice of returning to lands that cannot sustain them or abandoning their lifestyle by selling their cattle and moving to the cities. With little protection offered by state security services against the incessant violence, many farmers have begun abandoning their plots to seek safety elsewhere, leading to food shortages, depopulation of fertile land, and further damage to an already fragile economy. Some see no future in negotiations: “We are calling on the state government to evacuate [the herders] from our land because they are not friendly; they are very harmful to us. We are not ready to bargain with them to prolong their stay here.” Others have registered puzzlement that relations with “people who have always been around” (i.e. the herders) could have deteriorated so dramatically. Nigeria
Solutions? Herders cannot simply be outlawed. Despite the violence, they continue to supply the Sahel’s markets with meat. Grazing reserves have been proposed as a solution, but since these are seen as a government transfer of land to commercial livestock operations, they are unpopular. Fulani herders often object that such reserves are inaccessible or already in use by other herders. In May 2016, some 350 federal and state legislators declared they would resist any attempt by the federal government to take land by force for use as grazing reserves. Others have argued that ranching on fenced private lands (preferably in the north, where ethnic and religious tensions are diminished) is the only solution for Nigeria, where questions of land ownership remain politically charged. Nonetheless, 10 Nigerian states moved ahead in August 2016 with allocating grazing lands to the herdsmen. Ranching would improve yields of meat and milk, both of which suffer from nomadic grazing. (Most of Nigeria’s milk is now imported from the Netherlands.) According to House of Representatives minority leader Leo Ogor, “The solution lies in coming up with legislation that will criminalise grazing outside the ranches.” Governor of Benue State Samuel Ortom has said, “If we can copy the presidential system from America, why can’t we copy ranching? But, you see, it is a gradual process and cannot be done overnight.” Christians in Nigeria’s Kaduna State complaining of daily kidnappings, killings, and rapes committed by herders have described the large Ladugga grazing reserve as an “incubator” for “all sorts of criminals that are responsible for the misfortune that has come to stay with us.” An editorial in a major Nigerian daily described the reserves as “a decoy” for Fulani herders to overrun and seize land from “unsuspecting natives.” “It is incomprehensible how anyone expects the entire country to have grazing reserves carved out for Fulani herdsmen … what else is the motive behind this adventure if it is not to grab land and have strategic power?” Three federal bills trying to establish grazing reserves and control of herd movement were dropped by Nigeria’s senate last November after it was ruled such legislation must be enacted at the state level. This will likely result in a patchwork of efforts, however, to solve a problem that is, by its very nature, unconfined by state or national borders. In Ghana, joint military/police taskforces have been deployed to evict Fulani herdsmen from regions affected by communal violence. Many of the herdsmen are from Burkina Faso where pastureland has receded. To deal with what has been described as “a national security issue due to the crimes associated with the activities of the nomads,” Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama announced that veterinary services and 10,000 hectares of land would be provided to the herdsmen to discourage violent clashes with farmers. The measure falls short of the ranching laws that have been promised since 2012 but have yet to be implemented. Dr. Joachim Ezeji, an Abuja, Nigeria-based water management expert, attributes the violence to poor water management practices in Nigeria that are “not robust enough to cope with the impacts of climate change,” suggesting soil restoration, reforestation, and the expansion of terrace-farming could aid the currently unproductive, sloping land. Nigeria: Economic Struggle or Religious Conquest? 2 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by olureignforever: 3:52pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Fulani |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 3:58pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Ties to Boko Haram? Transition to Jihad: The Case of Mali A significant concern is posed by the possibility that Nigeria might follow the pattern of Mali. There, young Fulani herdsmen have been recruited into jihadi movements, a break from the Fulani community’s traditional support of the Bamako government as a balance to Tuareg and Arab power in northern Mali. Unlike other parts of the Sahel, there is a long tradition of Fulani “self-defense” militias in northern and central Mali. Known as Ganda Koy and Ganda Iso, these groups were generally pro-government in orientation but clashed repeatedly since 1990 with both separatist and loyalist Tuareg groups over land and access to water. Some Fulani from central Mali and northern Niger joined the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) during the Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012. Since France’s Operation Serval in 2013 expelled most of the Islamists from the region, Fulani in the Mopti and Segou regions have experienced retaliatory violence and abuse from both the Malian military (including torture and summary executions) and Fulani jihadis who want to deter their brethren from cooperating with the Malian state, U.N. peacekeepers, or French troops. The national army, the Forces Armées Maliennes (FAMA), are allegedly replicating the human rights abuses (arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killings) that helped inspire rebellion in northern Mali. According to one Fulani chief, “Our people don’t associate the state with security and services, but rather with predatory behavior and negligence.” After Operation Serval, many of the Fulani jihadis drifted into the Front de libération du Macina (FLM, aka Katiba Macina or Ansar al-Din Macina), a largely Fulani jihadi movement led by salafi preacher and Malian national Hamadoun Koufa. Based in the Mopti region in central Mali, the group takes its name from a 19th-century Fulani state. The Islamists spur recruitment by reminding young Fulanis that their traditional leadership has been unable to defend their people from Tuareg attacks or cattle-rustling, according to the author’s research. The movement became formally allied with Ansar al-Din on May 19, 2016, but split off from Iyad Ag Ghali’s mostly Tuareg jihadi movement in early 2017 due to ethnic tensions, Hamadoun Koufa’s dalliance with the rival Islamic State movement, and the FLM’s failure to provide military support for Ansar al-Din. Reports suggest that FLM leader Hamadoun Koufa has been engaged in discussions with the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, regarding the creation of a new Fulani caliphate with Islamic State support. An unknown number of Fulani appear to have joined Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s al-Murabitun movement. The group claimed that its January 17, 2017, suicide car-bomb attack that killed 77 members of the Malian Army and the Coordination of Azawad Movements coalition was carried out by a Fulani fighter, Abd al-Hadi al-Fulani. The attack followed similar suicide attacks by Fulani jihadis. Though there was some confusion created by rival claims of responsibility for the November 20, 2015, attack on Bamako’s Radisson Blu hotel from al-Murabitun and the FLM (allegedly in concert with Ansar al-Din), al-Murabitun maintained the attack was carried out by two Fulani jihadis. A Fulani individual was also named as one of three men who carried out the January 15, 2016, attack on the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino Café in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou, providing further proof of the growing attraction of jihad among some members of the Fulani community. Another militant Fulani group, formed in June 2016, is the “Alliance nationale pour la sauvegarde de l’identité peule et la restauration de la justice” (ANSIPRJ). Its leader, Oumar al-Janah, describes ANSPIRJ as a self-defense militia that will aggressively defend the rights of Fulani/Peul herding communities in Mali while being neither jihadi nor separatist in its ideology. ANSPIRJ deputy leader, Sidi Bakaye Cissé, claims that Mali’s military treats all Fulani as jihadis. “We are far from being extremists, let alone puppets in the hands of armed movements.” In reality, al-Janah’s salafi movement is closely aligned with the jihadi Ansar al-Din movement and participated in a coordinated attack with that group on a Malian military base at Nampala on July 19, 2016, that killed 17 soldiers and wounded 35.52 ANSPIRJ’s Fulani military emir, Mahmoud Barry (aka Abu Yehiya), was arrested near Nampala on July 27. Fulani groups that have maintained their distance from jihadis in Mali include: “The Mouvement pour la défense de la patrie” (MDP), led by Hama Founé Diallo, a veteran of Charles Taylor’s forces in the Liberian Civil War and briefly a member of the rebel Mouvement National de Libération de L’Azawad (MNLA) in 2012. The MDP joined the peace process in June 2016 by allying itself with the pro-government Platforme coalition.54 Diallo says he wants to teach the Fulani to use arms to defend themselves while steering them away from the attraction of jihad.55 “The Coordination des mouvements et fronts patriotiques de résistance” (CMFPR) has split into pro- and anti-government factions since its formation in July 2012.56 Originally an assembly of self-defense movements made up of Fulani and Songhaï in the Gao and Mopti regions, both factions have many former Ganda Koy and Ganda Iso members. The pro-government Platforme faction is led by Harouna Toureh; the split-off faction is led by Ibrahim Abba Kantao, head of the Ganda Iso movement, and is part of the separatist Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA) coalition formed in June 2014. While Kantao appears to favor the separatism of Azawad, he is closer to the secular MNLA than the region’s jihadis. Conclusion [img]http://qzprod.files./2016/04/rtr3mv9q-e1461981608279.jpg[/img] Dr. Andrew McGregor is the director of Aberfoyle International Security, a Toronto-based agency specializing in the analysis of security issues in Africa and the Islamic world. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 4:16pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
I simply don't believe one word of this article. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by georjay(m): 4:17pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
okay |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 4:20pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: Judging from your topics and previous posts, you can't have an open mind. "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Martin Luther King, Jr. cc: Lalasticlala, Mynd44 18 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 5:00pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Governments unresponsiveness is escalating this issue. 3 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 5:28pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] LRNZH:[/s] Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They'll believe anything they see in print. E.B. White, Charlotte's It's because fear sells. It's because war is sport. And it's also very good business. Hugh Howey, This zombie to US foolish never ending war on terror think his gullibility must be accepted even to the extent of intimidation, mister go shop for your failed war in another country. 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Nobody: 5:47pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Worst case scenario is having Fulani jihadsts with knowledge of the local terrain...damn I need to leave this shithole as soon as possible 1 Like |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 5:50pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: I'm not on your level just in case you have not noticed. I don't engage with people who judge books by their cover. You failed to read a 500 page article and yet you think you can criticise constructively. Stay in your lane boy. 13 Likes 1 Share |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 5:52pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: So you read the entire article and that is the conclusion you arrived at? The article didn't call for the removal of Buhari neither was it written by an igbo, yoruba or idoma Christian so what is your grouse with it? 12 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 5:53pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] LRNZH:[/s] Guy you assume I am reading your senile post? Get on with your job of searching new battle grounds for the US war on terror, that is the lane a low one albeit you occupy. 2 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 5:55pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
LRNZH: That will be Buhari's downfall. His Govt's inaction is horrible 2 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 5:56pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] Shuku0kukobambi: [/s] Your myopic line of reasoning doesn't deserve my response. 1 Like |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 5:58pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: So why come to the thread since you're obviously intellectually handicapped to address any part of the article? 10 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 5:59pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Shuku0kukobambi: You dey mind the ignoramus? 9 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 6:01pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] Shuku0kukobambi:[/s] Reserve your hate for Igbos, not one. 1 Like |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 6:03pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] LRNZH:[/s] we are not interested in your war on terror, find someplace else. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 6:05pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: Hate? such a strong word. I hate no one dear mental midget. I simply give proportional and appropriate response to acts and talks of idiocy around me 7 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 6:08pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
LRNZH: Insecurity is the problem with him Whenever any article about the murderous fulani herdsmen come up, his brain immediately translates it to an attempt to prevent buhari from coming back in 2019 5 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 6:09pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] Shuku0kukobambi:[/s] Think I am reading your words? I have no regards for useless ethnic jingoist whose only talent lies hatred for people based on their identity. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 6:12pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Shuku0kukobambi: Fortunately, this bottom-feeder behaviour is a sign of immense fear. It does Buhari no favours. 6 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 6:13pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
usba: Of course you can't read it yet you respond to it. Your brain must be overheating now. Just stay out of the thread, every extra second you spend here is a serious disservice to you and whatever ideology holds you captive 5 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 6:15pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
[s] Shuku0kukobambi:[/s] 1 Like
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Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 6:15pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
LRNZH: Of course it does him no favours but his feelings and interests are the least of the concern here bro. The innocent farming communities have had it rough with these idiots and it's about to get messier from what i read in this report 3 Likes |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by BeardedMeat(m): 6:16pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Buhari has come to fulfill the dreams of his forefathers, but he will be shocked at what hit him when he fully launches out. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by usba: 6:18pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Lazy Retarded Nicur Zombie Hoe go back to your shithole masters and tell them no, No more wars in Nigeria. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 6:37pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
BeardedMeat: Actually, i think this issue is even beyond him. infact, it's even beyond Nigeria and the sad thing thing is that the man is so oblivious to the wider implications its almost surreal. focusing on buhari limits the options we should have for combating this menace. This isn't to say he shouldn't be pushed out in 2019 by those who want to but even when GEJ was there, we had the dogon nahwa massacre in 2013 so having a southern christian as president isn't the magic wand to drive it away. The world is changing and we need to develop new tools, new ways of thinking to combat our problems 7 Likes 1 Share |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by LRNZH(m): 6:55pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
Shuku0kukobambi: You have made an excellent assertion. But if you are going to face a hypothetical alien out of space army would you enlist the Nigerian military as your main force or other more capable forces? We cannot face these major issues with our weakest hand. A hand that is turning a blind eye to the skirmishes today and insisting on colonies. Ranching is the way to go, the military has to intervene to deter criminal militia activities in the short term. The long run is good governance with economic liberation and massive fight against climate change. 6 Likes 1 Share |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 7:07pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
LRNZH: You're right bro. We need all the help we can get and an unresponsive military that some even say is now compromised is obviously worse than no help in this scenario. Economic realities and effects of climate change started it but the skirmishes are making it get colored with ethnic and religious considerations. If buhari is blind, dumb or too bigoted to see it, what about our 109 senators and 360reps in abuja? what about our state governors? 1 Like |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by drss2(m): 7:44pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
christians in nijeriya should be careful with articles dat anchors fulani herds men violence on so called environmental factors like global warming, lack of water n desertification. dey ar pure RUBBISH!!! was it environmental factors dat drove d known international murderer, usman danfodio to kill huasa kings in 1804? wen was d last time cow rearers in europe wipeout local communities becos dey want grass for dier cows europe especially Sweden, Denmark, Russia have d worst environmental conditions any farmer especially cow rearers can eva imagine, but yet dey ar able to summount it through RANCHING. dey used dier head to ovacome dier greatest challenge - WINTER to remain in business. today dey not only produce healthy cows, dey also produce most of d world's milk. how did dey achieve dis fit dispite having WINTER? by trampling on pipul's farmlands like some savages do in nijeriya wat we ar seeing in nijeriya's taraba, adamawa, benue, plateau etc is notin but pure undiluted, unadulterated JIHAD! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COWS!!!!!!!!! wat is happening is dat coalition of Jihadist in abuja ar using cows as extension tools to wipe n massacre christian communities in fulfilment of usman danfodio's wishes to dip koran in atlantic ocean. QED. |
Re: The Fulani Crisis: Communal Violence & Radicalization, A Warning to Nigeria by Shuku0kukobambi: 7:57pm On Feb 03, 2018 |
drss2: The article said all these things you said and even more. The guy said what started out as economic and climate change issues is slowly assuming ethnic, religious and political coloration and he even gave the examples in Mali and Burkina Faso. E.g see a quote from the same article ...Alongside the Islamist struggle to reshape society in the Sahel through violent means is a second, relatively unnoticed but equally deadly conflict with the dangerous potential of merging with jihadi efforts. 1 Like |
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