Nigeria’s former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has raised the alarm that Nigeria was losing $$13.7 billion yearly to the incessant clashes between faremers and Fulani herdsmen, particularly in Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Nasarawa states.
He said aside the destruction of farm products and services during such clashes, about 2, 500 lives had already been lost while about 62, 000 families displaced in the four states alone.
Abdulsalami disclosed this at a one-day forum on “Farmers-Herder relations in Nigeria,” which held at Maizube Farm, along Minna-Bida road.
His words:
“With respect to economic impact, the federal government loses $13.7 billion annually as a result of farmer-herder conflicts in Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states. Averagely, these four states lost up to half (47%) of their internally generated revenue”.
The forme Military Head of State further explained: “The hidden causes of the conflicts on every sphere of our national life are enormous and it has been estimated that about 2, 500 persons were killed nationwide as a result of the clashes in 2016 alone”.
He however appealed to all the three tiers of government to guarantee security of lives and properties of Nigerians by putting in place appropriate policies and responses that would guard against re-occurrence of farmers/herders clash across the country.
Abdulsalam expressed regrets that recent crises in Plateau, Benue and other states particularly in the north central region, leading to loss of lives, properties, displacement of persons and families, caused hardships to communities and individuals affected.
“This is a wake up call to all relevant stakeholders, states and federal government, legislatures, traditional rulers, civil society organizations, security agencies and communities on the need to address these deadly conflicts that are expanding gradually to other states in the federation.
“The current situation is threatening the fragile peace of the nation”, the former head of state said, arguing however that, farmers and herders have had beneficial and cordial relationship with minimal conflicts in the past and also had mechanisms of resolving them without resorting to destructive acts of violence against one another.
(nigerianewsflight.com)
- Advertisment -
- Advertisment -
