Disturbing Occupation of 151 Villages by Armed Herders in Plateau State

A recent revelation by the indigenous youth groups in Plateau State that 151 villages are forcibly occupied by armed foreign herdsmen on land-grabbing mission in the state has raised questions on the sincerity of the federal government to end the killings in Plateau and other states being ravaged by the invading herdsmen, Ejiofor Alike reports

With the recent allegations by the various ethnic groups in Plateau State that 151 villages and hamlets in the state are currently being occupied forcefully by armed herdsmen, it is no longer in doubt that the invasion of indigenous communities in Plateau, Benue, southern parts of Kaduna, Enugu, Ondo, Ogun, Delta and other states in the South-west and South-east by the invaders is a land-grabbing mission.

Before this latest allegation by the Plateau youths, the son of the first Gbong Gwom Jos and spokesperson for Southern Middle Belt Alliance (SAMBA), Prince Rwang Pam Jr., had in a media interview in December 2021 claimed that 102 communities in the state were renamed and forcefully occupied by Fulani herdsmen, who had been attacking the state since 2001.

“When attacks happen, some say it was allegedly committed by herdsmen. They are not alleged herdsmen; they are Fulani herdsmen. Survivors know their identity and when they come to attack, they shout ‘God is great’ in Arabic. They kill women and children while mothers watch their daughters being raped. It is just pathetic. The killings have continued because the government allowed them. The annexed communities have increased to 102 because the government allowed it to happen,” Pam reportedly explained.

The people of Tiv resident in the United States of American under the aegis of the Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA) had written a petition dated February 15, 2021, to the House of Representatives, alleging that herdsmen were taking over and renaming the ancestral lands abandoned by Tiv people sacked in parts of Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states.

The then Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, made a failed attempt to block the former member representing Gwer-East/Gwer-West Federal Constituency in Benue State, Mark Gbillah, from presenting the petition to the lawmakers.

In the petition, MUTA further alleged that since 2013, “armed Fulani herdsmen have repeatedly wreaked havoc on communities in 20 of the 23 local government areas of Benue State, massacring thousands of people, destroying communities and, often, totally obliterating economic and cultural assets.”

While killing and sacking villages in southern parts of Kaduna, Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa states, the militant herdsmen have repeatedly slaughtered villagers in Uzo Uwani and Isi-uzo LGAs of Enugu State in their failed attempts to seize their ancestral lands.

Governor Peter Mba of Enugu State had recently read the riot act to the invaders.

States in the South-west and South-south are also not spared by the rampaging herdsmen.

Former Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State had in June 2018 vowed that “those fighting, killing people and destroying their settlements with the intention of taking ownership of such places would not be allowed to do so.”

According to him, “If you think you can chase people out and grab their land, we as a government would not allow you to own the land. My administration is working out modalities for prosecuting land grabbers to discourage the act.”

But despite the governor’s promise to resist the land grabbers, the indigenous people of the state have continued to watch helplessly as they are being killed, their ancestral homes occupied, and the indigenous names of the villages allegedly changed to Fulani names.

It is not surprising that the number of occupied villages in the state has risen to 151.

Plateau Youth Associations from Atakar, Berom, Irigwe, Mwaghavwul, and Ron ethnic groups in the state last Monday released the names of some of the 151 occupied villages.

They also appealed to the federal and state governments to help them recover these communities currently occupied by armed men who they said had uprooted the original owners from the land.

In a press conference held in Jos, the state capital, the associations, in conjunction with the Coalition of Plateau Indigenous Youth Bodies lamented what they described as “the alarming space of Fulani occupation of hamlets, villages and the land grabbing ongoing in the communities.”

The Chairman of Indigenous Youths, Paul Dekete, flanked by the Youth Presidents of the various groups, raised the alarm over the alarming and unacceptable loss of ancestral lands by the customary landowners in the state.

According to the groups, all the security agencies are aware of the unprecedented and well-orchestrated terror attacks unleashed on their communities with the principal motive of dispossessing them of their God-given lands and territory.

Spokesperson of the groups further alleged that communities that are endowed with rich mineral resources are mostly the targets of the invaders.

“It’s quite provoking to imagine that the foundations of churches that were destroyed by these terrorist elements have overnight been reconstructed as mosques, to the utter disregard of the fundamental rights of the displaced people. A case in point is the Rankum (Mahanga) in Jol, Ranchos, and Kak in Sopp, all in the Riyom LGA.

“For the avoidance of doubt, over 151 hamlets and villages are either totally ‘annexed’ or effectively being occupied by the Fulani militants, bandits, or terrorists in the aforementioned Local Government of Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Mangu, and Riyom,” he explained.

They also listed the communities and the years the natives were sacked and called on the federal government and the international community to identify the occupiers of the sacked villages, and unravel their internal and external networks and sponsors. 

But in a swift reaction, the Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Plateau State, Mallam Nura Mohammad was quoted by a national newspaper as saying that the Fulani are indigenes and not foreigners.

According to him, Fulani inherited those lands from their forefathers and have lived in these areas for over 100 years.

“This is totally unacceptable. We are all Nigerians too; we have no other place to go, except to stay on our God- given lands, which we inherited from our forefathers,” he reportedly said.

Mohammed’s claims have raised pertinent questions:

If he was not misquoted, does it mean that the herdsmen inherited the Plateau villages as he claimed, but later abandoned the villages to other indigenous people and are now returning to the state to kill the people and recover their lands?

How about the killings being perpetrated by the herdsmen in other states? Did the herders also inherit the lands in Benue, Enugu and other states from their forefathers?

The revelation on the 151 occupied villages and the reported response by the state chairman of MACBAN suggest that the killers ravaging some states are well known by security agencies and the governments at all levels.

The failure of the security agencies to bring the killers to book has raised questions on the sincerity of the government.