Please continue to share. I received this words of wisdom from my friend. It is worth reading.


I am not a member of APC or a part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government but I do not think that as Christians we should allow politicians to influence our thinking and understanding of herdsmen killings in Nigeria.

No one is happy about the killings of herdsmen across the country and most of us want an end to it but I don’t think this is an attempt to Islamise Nigeria. In a bid to find out more about herdsmen killings and their motives, I did this research and found ten things we all should know about these attacks.

Proverbs 4 vs 7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Below are 10 things I found. I leave you to make up your mind on the matter

10 LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT FULANI HERDSMEN

1.       According to the Global Terrorism Index, Fulani militants were the fourth deadliest terrorist group in 2014, using machine guns and attacks on villages to assault and intimidate farmers. After killing around 80 people in total from 2010 to 2013, they killed 1,229 in 2014.

2.       This shows that herdsmen killings precede President Buhari’s administration and is not an Islamic agenda or an attempt to Islamise Nigeria has peddled by many.

3.       Herdsmen carried out attacks under Christian led governments of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan (especially under Jonathan’s government.

4.       President Buhari’s attempt to curb herdsmen killings through “Cattle Colonies” (which will be funded by the FG) have been rejected by some state governors and politicians. In a colony, 20 to 30 ranchers can share a colony that can house up to 300 cows.

5.       It is on account of this that he brushed aside an opinion that the Federal Government should challenge the constitutionality of the anti-open grazing bill.

6.       Commanding General of the US Army, Africa, Brig.-Gen. Eugene LeBoeuf, has submitted that insecurity and attacks have been fuelled by the invasion of foreign extremists.

7.       President Buhari has ordered that both the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Police operatives be deployed to Benue and other states affected by herdsmen attack in a bid to curb and possibly end attacks.

8.       Herdsmen have also attacked other African countries including Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Congo.

9.       Since the Fourth Nigerian Republic in 1999, the most impacted states are those of the Nigerian Middle Belt like Benue, Taraba and Plateau.

10.   Security experts believe that herdsmen conflicts are more often than not, as a result of major demographic changes in Nigeria. "Urban sprawl and development have simply reduced land area for both peasant farming and cattle grazing".

James Akinloye