By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
The federal government has set up a technical committee to find lasting solutions to the incessant clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers across the country.
The conflict between pastoralists and sedentary farmers escalates at every passing year in more violent proportion, resulting in wanton destruction of lives and property and threat to the country internal security.
Inaugurating the committee which has two weeks to submit its report yesterday in Abuja, Minister of Interior, Lt.-General Abdulrahaman Dambazau (retd), said the incessant clashes had become a cog in the nation’s wheel of progress. He said, the “committee is put together to help fashion out the way forward in addressing this conflict that is fast becoming a clog to our efforts toward achieving harmonious relationship amongst the citizenry as well as to our economic development strides.”
The committee, headed by the Director-General of the Institute of Peace, Conflict and Resolution, Professor Osita O. Osita, is expected to “identify the problems underlining the conflict from regional and national perspective, have an overview of past police investigations, including those that have been implemented and to highlight the successes and challenges of each.”
Other terms of reference of the committee include; to “situate the Niger-Benue generally and Nigeria in particular, as area of conflict between pastoralists and sedentary farmers, identify regional and local laws and regulations that impact on the conflict and lastly, outline tentative strategy to deal with the conflict and vis-a-vis methodology for open stakeholders forum.”
Responding, the committee chair, Professor Osita, who expressed members’ readiness to work, said “peace in Nigeria is not negotiable because it is in the atmosphere of peace that government can deliver dividends of democracy.”
He, however, assured that the committee would do everything possible to help achieve the expected peace.
