Farms, cows and blood: Untold story of reprisal attacks on Fulani herdsmen in the South-East

IN a video clip which has gone viral on the social media among members of the Fulani community in the South-East, a number of able-bodied young men, armed with guns and dressed in the dark blue uniforms of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a vigilante outfit set up by the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), marched through farmlands said to be located at Awgu, in Enugu State.

A voice which ran a commentary in the video said the ESN men were looking for Fulani herdsmen who were grazing cows in farms.

At a point in the video, the ESN troops raced off in pursuit of herdsmen who were sighted with cows inside a farm.

The video ended after a cow which was grazing in the farm was shot dead by one of the ESN ‘soldiers’. As the cow fell, dying from the bullet wound, the voice in the video vowed that herdsmen would not be allowed to graze cows in farmlands in any part of Igboland.

A South-East youth leader of the Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of Fulani herdsmen, Mr Yunusa Usman, shared the video clip via a social media platform, WhatsApp, with The ICIR.

Usman and other members of the Fulani community say the emergence of the ESN had resulted in a spike in attacks against herdsmen in the South-East.

Mr Gidado Sidiq, the leader of the Miyetti Allah and the Fulani community in the South-East, told The ICIR that, between January and March 2021, more than 50 Fulani in the region have been killed, or gone missing.

According to Sidiq, about 22 Fulani were killed in Anambra, while over 30 were lost in Ebonyi State. He also alleged that not less than five herdsmen were killed in Enugu during the period.

But the claims made by the South-East Fulani community could not be independently verified by The ICIR. Police commands and other relevant stakeholders in the zone also doubted the claims made by the Fulani.

However, what is not in doubt is the dread with which the Fulani community in the South-East views the activities of the ESN.

The ESN was launched in December 2020 by IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to protect the South-East and the South-South – the areas that made up the defunct Republic of Biafra – from ‘criminal activity and terrorist attack’.

The infamous ‘Nimbo massacre‘ in which about 20 persons were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen at Ukpabi Nimbo, an agrarian community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, in April 2016, was the first high profile attack linked to the cattle rearers in the South-East.

Since then, several indigenes of the zone had been killed in numerous attacks by suspected armed herdsmen. The victims include women who were raped to death in their farms, and clergymen, particularly Catholic priests, who were kidnapped and killed.

Ensuring the safety of forests and farmlands – which the IPOB leader said had been converted to slaughter grounds and raping fields by suspected herdsmen – is one of the major mandates of the ESN and it is not surprising that the emergence of the vigilante outfit has coincided with a spike in reports and allegations of attacks on Fulani herdsmen in the South-East.

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https://www.icirnigeria.org/farms-cows-and-blood-untold-story-of-reprisal-attacks-on-fulani-herdsmen-in-the-south-east/

Is there a right to self defence and self preservation in Nigeria?

You that posted this , ask yourself what cows are doing on people's farmlands. Do you know that 90% of those in the rural area survive mainly on their farm produce. Why then should Filani herdsmen graze their cows on people's means of livelihood? How right is that, how sensible is that? I criticise kanu when he goes wrong but on this case, Fulanis should go and sit down, they cannot win this and before they think of reprisal attacks, I hope they know that everyone in South East, no get joy again o

FULANI HERDSMEN ARE NOT HUMANS BUT ANIMALS.CHECK THERE WAY OF LIFE AND LIVING AND YOU WOULD FULLY COMPREHEN WHAT I MEAN