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Nigeria herders offer olive branch

Thursday April 26 2018
NaijaMap
By MOHAMMED MOMOH

Nigeria's Fulani herdsmen are making overtures to end persistent conflict with their farming compatriots.

The Miyetty Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), an umbrella body of the Nigeria herders, has resolved to heed the order of the Sultan Sokoto, Mr Mohammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, to identify the killer herders.

The association on Thursday the mobilised communities in the embattled Nasarawa and Benue states in the north central to sign a peace agreement.

The agreement was signed by the Joint Peace Committee of Tiv and Fulani in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.

Their leaders

The Nasarawa State MACBAN chairman, Mr Mohammed Hussaini, said the two warring communities did not need security to enforce the peace deal.

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He called on them not to take the laws into their hands, but report any provocative acts to their leaders for action.

The Sokoto sultan, who is the socio-political and spiritual head of the Hausa and Fulani, had expressed anger over the killings and issued a two-month ultimatum for the perpetrators to be identified for action.

The inter-community hostilities have caused more than 2,109 deaths since November last year.

RELATED CONTENT: More massacred in Nigeria's embattled Benue State

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the non-implementation of two Ecowas protocols on free movement of persons, goods and services for the lingering herders and farmers conflicts in West Africa.

The president on Thursday opened the Ecowas Ministerial Meeting on Conflicts between Herders and Farmers in Abuja.

The conference is organised by the ministries of Agriculture and Interior.

President Buhari stated that the protocols offered hope for a lasting solution to the deadly conflicts.

The Nigerian leader noted that many Ecowas countries were already struggling with food security and the violence, if unchecked, would lead to a catastrophe.

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