Documenting human rights violations is painstaking, gruesome work that often occurs in the aftermath of a crisis when people are distressed and facts are difficult to establish.
It is work that CSW has undertaken for over 20 years in Nigeria, where we have reported extensively on the spiralling violence in the northern and central states, which spares no man, woman, or child.
In his article titled, (Any Gains from Demonising All Fulani?), Mr Tuji Ajibade critiques the national security infrastructure for failing to curb the violence and lawlessness taking hold in parts of the country.
We share his concerns and his vigilance in ensuring that the Fulani people, as a collective, are not blamed for the situation.
However, we cannot agree with his assertion that what we are witnessing amounts to mere ‘incidents’ that are often misinterpreted, especially when his own investigations have found that, in some cases, these are simply ‘two communities in minority ethnic group areas attacking each other.’
We strongly object to his claim that there is a ‘template’ of ‘suspected Fulani herdsmen’ being applied and that CSW is deliberately misleading international organisations, such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in order to demonise the Fulani people by denying the existence of ‘farmer-herder challenges.’
As a human rights organisation with United Nations accreditation, specialising in advocacy for the right to freedom of religion or belief, our documentation must meet the highest international standards. We take this responsibility, along with the allegations levelled against us, with the utmost seriousness.
From his article, we can only conclude that Mr Ajibade had, at best, a brief and cursory interaction with our work, which he grossly misinterpreted before levelling serious accusations that were both false and damaging to CSW’s reputation.
CSW does not use the term ‘farmer-herder clashes’ to describe the current violence, though not for the reasons Mr Ajibade has fabricated to support his preferred narrative.
We are fully aware of the socio-economic contributory factors, including the long history of episodic conflicts between farmers and herders.
However, we contend that the current violence has mutated beyond this traditional form into a sustained campaign, with patterns increasingly reflecting the country’s main religious fault line.
In reality, CSW avoids this term because the word ‘clashes’ suggests a tit-for-tat conflict between the two communities.
While there are instances where farming communities have taken defensive action, the evidence is clear that since March 2010—when over 400 people were killed in attacks on the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot, and Ratsat in Plateau State—there has been an asymmetric pattern of extreme violence perpetrated by an irregular armed faction comprising members of the Fulani ethnic group (also referred to as Fulani militia) in the central states, which has escalated exponentially.
Our organisation has repeatedly emphasised that our use of the term ‘Fulani militia’ is not a condemnation of the entire Fulani ethnic group.
Rather, it is a careful distinction made to separate the perpetrators of this violence from the broader Fulani community.
Many Fulani communities and herders live peacefully alongside farming communities of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds and in no way subscribe to this violence.
Neither does the term imply that other ethnic groups do not rear cattle.
In short, borrowing Mr Ajibade’s own phrase, CSW uses the term to ‘separate the criminal few from non-herding, law-abiding Fulani people.’
We cannot comment on the substance of Mr Ajibade’s investigations, which appear to be largely anecdotal. However, we can point to our years of meticulous documentation of this grim crisis, which informs our observations.
It is a fact that these particular attacks in central states, which now claim lives in parts of southern Nigeria, and which have contributed to the proliferation of light weaponry and a general rise in lawlessness, appear to be perpetrated exclusively by members of the Fulani tribe.
Moreover, the proliferation of arms also lies behind the rise to similar violence in northwestern states, a separate issue with a genesis obscured in a history of cattle rustling, mining interests and vigilantes that is devastating Hausa Muslim communities overwhelmingly.
This, too, is perpetrated by predominantly Fulani armed groups or ‘bandits’.
Mr Ajibade’s inaccurate and defamatory article impugns the integrity of our organisation and of our colleagues who work to address these issues in a holistic manner. Most importantly, his assertions also minimise the very real toll of this violence, which has continued for too long and led to the injury, displacement and death of so many, in numbers that beggar belief, and that should inspire urgent action among those who have the power to make a difference.
- By Scot Bower, CEO CSW-UK and Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, CEO CSW-Nigeria
