Late last month, Chief Falae, 77, was abducted from his farm near the Ondo State capital Akure, by armed hoodlums said to be Fulani herdsmen. His kidnappers, who threatened to kill him every 30 minutes unless they were paid a ransom, eventually released Chief Falae after receiving N5m (£17,000) from his family.
Over recent years, Chief Falae has been involved in a series of disputes with Fulani cattle herders who bring their livestock to his farm to graze. It is believed that his kidnapping might have something to do with the ongoing disagreements he is having with the herdsmen and as a result, pan-Yoruba cultural association Afenifere, has called on the government to ban cattle herding across southwest Nigeria.
However, Macban has responded to the allegations, saying those who abducted Chief Falae were not genuine Fulani herdsmen but just common criminals. Mallam Bello Garba, the chairman of the Ondo State chapter of Macban, admitted that Fulani herdsmen usually encroached on farms but argued that no Fulani herdsman would abandon his cattle and go about abducting people.
Mallam Garba said: “We’ve been relating with security agencies and we have never had any issue with residents before. The disagreement with farmers has been ongoing for sometime but we have mediated and settled it on several occasions.
“Most of the Fulani people that came into Ondo came in as cattle breeders and you don’t expect them to just leave their animals and be kidnapping. We have been residing in Ondo State for more than 100 years and no one has ever accused us of any heinous crime in Ondo State or caught us with weapons."
Condemning the abduction, Mallam Garba said this was a classic case of impersonation as his members live in Ondo State and would not as a result engage in such criminal activity. He called on the law enforcement agents to do more investigation and expose the real perpetrators behind the abduction.
Also, Alhaji Mohammed Bambado, the Sarkin Fulani of Lagos, said it will not be in the interest of the Yoruba or Nigerians to denigrate cattle breeders at a time when the country is trying to diversify its economy and make agriculture more attractive. He reminded the Afenifere that expelling Fulani indigenes from the southwest was in contravention of the African Union charter.
Alhaji Bambado added: “Need we remind our Afenifere brothers of the African Union and Ecowas charters that give people and animals, particularly, livestock free movement within and across international borders of West African states. Such calls and actions are in direct breach of a number of international treaties and obligations regarding the free movement of persons and animals.
“Banning the movement of cattle from one part of Nigeria to another also violates the constitution of Nigeria on the freedom of movement of people and livestock. It also amounts to ethnic profiling of the nomadic Fulani.”
He called on the Afenifere to join hands with the Fulani to find a lasting solution to the encroachment of herdsmen on farmlands. Alhaji Mohammed Kabir, the Sarkin Fulani of Abeokuta, said the government needs to create grazing reserves for herdsmen so that they would stop encroaching on farmlands.
Alhaji Kabir said if Nigeria failed to address the issue squarely, the country could start relying on other countries for cattle supply and this would further weaken the economy. He added that cattle reserves exist in numerous industrialised countries and Nigeria needs to follow suit.
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