Bloodshed in Kogi
Gunmen have killed at least 21 people in Kogi State, residents said, in the latest clash between herders and farmers. Edibo Ameh Mark, chairman of Omala Local Government Area, where the violence took place, said the attack was a reprisal by Fulani herders after the villagers killed six of them, including two by beheading on 2 April. A resident, Julius Atabor, said up to 100 herdsmen had attacked the village, adding that 19 bodies were recovered, with an additional 15 found on Friday, 5 April. Atabor said most of the casualties were older people who could not escape the assailants.
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Kogi rarely makes the news headlines on the Pastoral Conflicts, but given its location in Nigeria’s Northcentral geopolitical zone — a hotbed of the Pastoral Conflict — it is inconceivable that it is divorced from the more significant socioeconomic problems that plague its neighbours. Attacks and reprisal attacks have been a feature of farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria, but the Omala incident is the biggest in terms of casualty figures in recent memory. Benue is another state in the Northcentral that suffers to a great degree from this carnage that has not only affected Nigeria’s food inflation due to farmers’ inability to access their farms but has also led to the rising numbers of internally displaced persons. The sheer availability of small arms and light weapons from the proliferation of unlicensed weapons manufacturing hubs has compounded the problem, not just in Kogi, but in neighbouring Edo, where farming communities in Owan West and Ovia North East have been at the receiving end of attacks by militant herders. Nevertheless, addressing insecurity does not appear to be among Aso Rock’s top priorities. Previous government initiatives, such as the National Livestock Transformation Plan and the RUGA settlement scheme, fell through because of poor policy implementation and lack of general buy-in. The current centralised police structure has failed to deliver law, order and a sense of justice across the country effectively. In the Kogi incident, residents reported that the attackers were about 100, yet traditional law enforcement appeared unable to prevent the bloodshed. Proponents of state police argue that state police officers would likely have a deeper understanding of the local communities, including potential flashpoints for conflict like grazing routes in states with them. This could enable preventive measures and mediation efforts. There is now some positive movement on the matter as the National Assembly is actively considering proposals, and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele recently announced the commitment of the National Assembly to developing a legal framework for establishing and regulating state police forces. We hope the National Assembly’s deliberations will unearth a clear plan that addresses funding, recruitment and robust training for state police officers, along with details of how they would work with relevant organisations to solve the country’s insecurity problems.
