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Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria

Received: 27 September 2022     Accepted: 25 October 2022     Published: 4 November 2022
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Abstract

The increasing undocumented migration of foreign Fulani herders into Nigeria through over 1,000 porous borders has brought about an influx of illegal foreign herders into the country. The super increase in the numbers foreign herders which came into the country with their numerous cattle automatically exacerbated competition between local farmers and increased herders over the same natural resources like pastures, water resources and land. This escalated violent conflicts between herders and indigenous farmers in Nigeria. This violent conflict has led to huge infringements of people’s Fundamental Human Rights to life, shelter, human dignity, and freedom of religion. Aside poor enforcement of relevant laws, competition over scarce natural resources, environmental and overpopulation issues, and ethno-religious and alleged Nigerian government complacency, have all been eluded as combined causations of this conflict and its human rights impacts. Most times, these herders fail to recognize and compensate the local farmers whose land and natural resources have been depleted due to their grazing activities. Instead, they attack them and infringe their fundamental right to life when these local farmers confront them. This paper is an attempt to intellectually investigate this crisis vis-a-vis its human rights impact as well as government policy and legislative approaches towards resolving the same. The paper adopts a qualitative and doctrinal research methodology. The objectives of this paper are; to establish a nexus between the poor implementation of the relevant extant laws and herders-farmers conflicts in Nigeria. Also, to understand how competition over scarce natural resources, environmental factors, ethno-religious reasons, and government lopsided approaches to the crisis have escalated the crisis and its consequent human rights violations. Also, the paper examines the nature of Nigerian border crossing issues and interrogates the nature and causes of the conflict including; environmental causes and alleged “fulanisation” and Jihadist agenda. The paper also x-rays the human rights implications of this endemic crisis. The paper conclusively makes recommendations for resolving the illegal herders’ border crossing, conflicts, and human rights issues discussed in the paper.

Published in Journal of Energy and Natural Resources (Volume 11, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11
Page(s) 107-119
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Herders Border Crossing, Illegal Immigration, Natural Resource Conflicts, Human Rights Violations, Competition over Natural Resources

References
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[21] T. I. Eje, I. A. Angai, Y. B. Abdullah, P. O. Eje, L. E. Wudaba, N. Ishaku, 2017. Pattern and Implication of Conflicts between Farmers Herders in Riyom Local Government Plateau State, Nigeria, IJHSS, 2017, vol. 5 (10), pp. 256-271.
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[29] N. O. Adeoye, “Land use Conflict between Farmers and Herdsmen in parts of Kano, Yobe and Borno States of Nigeria: Nomads View Points”, Ghana Jour of Geo, 2017, vol. 9 (1), pp. 124-151.
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[32] M. Abbass, “No Retreat No Surrender Conflict for Survival between Fulani Pastoralists and Farmer in Nigeria”. EU S J, 2012, vol. 8, {1}, pp. 331-346.
[33] W. A. Ahmed-Gamgum, 2018. Herdsmen and Farmers Conflict in Nigeria: Another Dimension of Insecurity”, Journal of Public Administration and Social Welfare Research [Online] Vol. 3 (1), pp. 35-62. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://iiardpub.org/get/JPASWR/VOL.%203%20NO.%201%202018/HERDSMEN%20AND%20FARMERS.pdf
[34] Preliminary investigations conducted by Al-Hayah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria on the loss of lives, livestock and properties of its members due to Boko Haram activities in Borno State, Nigeria – December 2015. Sourced from the Research work conducted by Conciliation Resources, Published by Spotlight an International Review for Peace Initiatives.
[35] Sadiq Emmanuel Rasak. 2011. The Land Use Act of 1978: Appraisal, Problems, and Prospects. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7bfc/ca6e34ab48fa5272082341a33ac18572f1a8.pdf
[36] Amnesty International 2018. Harvest of Death: Three years of bloody clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/9503/2018/en/
[37] C. I. Ndubuisi, 2018, ‘A critical analysis of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria: Causes and socio-religious and political effects on national development’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 74 (1), a5065. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v74i1.5065
[38] Vanguard News, August 25, 2016. Again, Fulani herdsmen invade Enugu community, kill Catholic Seminarian. Retrieved 3 July 2019, fromwww.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/againfulani-herdsmen-invade-enugu-communitykill-catholic-seminarian/
[39] Collins Sunday. PUNCH online newspaper. December 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2022 from https://punchng.com/20-farmers-killed-5000-displaced-as-herders-attack-nasarawa-communities/.
[40] Lawrence Njoku. GUARDIAN online newspaper. July 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2022 from https://guardian.ng/news/herders-attack-farm-settlement-in-enugu/
[41] THIS DAY online newspaper. July 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022 from https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/07/02/two-killed-as-suspected-herdsmen-attack-enugu-community/
[42] Dayo Johnson. VANGUARD online newspaper. June 2022. ‘Owo massacre a reprisal attack for evicting criminal herdsmen.’ Retrieved 15 August 2022 from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/06/owo-massacre-a-reprisal-attack-for-evicting-criminal-herdsmen/
[43] Grazing Bill Analysis. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://placng.org/new/upload/GrazingBillAnalysis.pdf
[44] Nigeria World. Retrieved 3 July 2019, from http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2018/feb/014.html
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[46] Ruga settlement: No land, we can only exchange grass for herdsmen’s meat – South-East govs (July 2019). Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://punchng.com/no-land-we-can-only-exchange-grass-for-herdsmens-meat-seast-govs/
[47] Federal Governement Sue Over Controversial Ruga Settlement Policy (July 2019). Retrieved 3 July 2019, from https://dailypost.ng/2019/07/03/fg-sued-controversial-ruga-settlement-policy/
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Dominic Obilor Akabuiro. (2022). Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources, 11(4), 107-119. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11

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    Dominic Obilor Akabuiro. Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria. J. Energy Nat. Resour. 2022, 11(4), 107-119. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11

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    AMA Style

    Dominic Obilor Akabuiro. Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria. J Energy Nat Resour. 2022;11(4):107-119. doi: 10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11,
      author = {Dominic Obilor Akabuiro},
      title = {Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria},
      journal = {Journal of Energy and Natural Resources},
      volume = {11},
      number = {4},
      pages = {107-119},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jenr.20221104.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jenr.20221104.11},
      abstract = {The increasing undocumented migration of foreign Fulani herders into Nigeria through over 1,000 porous borders has brought about an influx of illegal foreign herders into the country. The super increase in the numbers foreign herders which came into the country with their numerous cattle automatically exacerbated competition between local farmers and increased herders over the same natural resources like pastures, water resources and land. This escalated violent conflicts between herders and indigenous farmers in Nigeria. This violent conflict has led to huge infringements of people’s Fundamental Human Rights to life, shelter, human dignity, and freedom of religion. Aside poor enforcement of relevant laws, competition over scarce natural resources, environmental and overpopulation issues, and ethno-religious and alleged Nigerian government complacency, have all been eluded as combined causations of this conflict and its human rights impacts. Most times, these herders fail to recognize and compensate the local farmers whose land and natural resources have been depleted due to their grazing activities. Instead, they attack them and infringe their fundamental right to life when these local farmers confront them. This paper is an attempt to intellectually investigate this crisis vis-a-vis its human rights impact as well as government policy and legislative approaches towards resolving the same. The paper adopts a qualitative and doctrinal research methodology. The objectives of this paper are; to establish a nexus between the poor implementation of the relevant extant laws and herders-farmers conflicts in Nigeria. Also, to understand how competition over scarce natural resources, environmental factors, ethno-religious reasons, and government lopsided approaches to the crisis have escalated the crisis and its consequent human rights violations. Also, the paper examines the nature of Nigerian border crossing issues and interrogates the nature and causes of the conflict including; environmental causes and alleged “fulanisation” and Jihadist agenda. The paper also x-rays the human rights implications of this endemic crisis. The paper conclusively makes recommendations for resolving the illegal herders’ border crossing, conflicts, and human rights issues discussed in the paper.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Herders and Farmers Competition over Natural Resources and Its Impacts on Human Rights in Nigeria
    AU  - Dominic Obilor Akabuiro
    Y1  - 2022/11/04
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    AB  - The increasing undocumented migration of foreign Fulani herders into Nigeria through over 1,000 porous borders has brought about an influx of illegal foreign herders into the country. The super increase in the numbers foreign herders which came into the country with their numerous cattle automatically exacerbated competition between local farmers and increased herders over the same natural resources like pastures, water resources and land. This escalated violent conflicts between herders and indigenous farmers in Nigeria. This violent conflict has led to huge infringements of people’s Fundamental Human Rights to life, shelter, human dignity, and freedom of religion. Aside poor enforcement of relevant laws, competition over scarce natural resources, environmental and overpopulation issues, and ethno-religious and alleged Nigerian government complacency, have all been eluded as combined causations of this conflict and its human rights impacts. Most times, these herders fail to recognize and compensate the local farmers whose land and natural resources have been depleted due to their grazing activities. Instead, they attack them and infringe their fundamental right to life when these local farmers confront them. This paper is an attempt to intellectually investigate this crisis vis-a-vis its human rights impact as well as government policy and legislative approaches towards resolving the same. The paper adopts a qualitative and doctrinal research methodology. The objectives of this paper are; to establish a nexus between the poor implementation of the relevant extant laws and herders-farmers conflicts in Nigeria. Also, to understand how competition over scarce natural resources, environmental factors, ethno-religious reasons, and government lopsided approaches to the crisis have escalated the crisis and its consequent human rights violations. Also, the paper examines the nature of Nigerian border crossing issues and interrogates the nature and causes of the conflict including; environmental causes and alleged “fulanisation” and Jihadist agenda. The paper also x-rays the human rights implications of this endemic crisis. The paper conclusively makes recommendations for resolving the illegal herders’ border crossing, conflicts, and human rights issues discussed in the paper.
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Law, Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria

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