Women groups concerned about the continuous conflicts between farmers and cattle herdsmen have called for greater involvement of women in peace processes in the country.

The women spoke through a communiqué issued after a one-day policy dialogue with relevant stakeholders on “Promoting Women’s Involvement in Peace Processes in Nigeria,” organised by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding Nigeria (WANEP-Nigeria). They said that as the most affected, being the vulnerable group in the conflict, women should be given more voice in decisions over the issue.

The dialogue was put together to discuss the protracted agro-pastoralist conflict in Nigeria which has recorded many casualties, displaced many farming communities and threatening food security in the country, and provided a united front to deliberate on possible next steps on greater involvement of women in finding sustainable solutions to the situation.

The dialogue observed: “Violent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and agrarian communities in the North-Central and Southern zones have escalated in recent years threatening the country’s security and stability” and, “with an estimated death toll of over 3,000 people since 2016, these clashes are becoming as potentially dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East”. “The quest for territorial control of arable land for grazing activities, obstruction of traditional migration routes among other reasons, has led to the destruction of farmlands and products. Revenge killings emanating from alleged theft/killing of livestock and sexual violence especially, rape of women and girls attributed to herdsmen, has thrown up new challenges to human security in the country. More alarming is the proliferation of small arms and light weapons resulting in high fatality and internal displacements,” the women further noted.

To change the story, the women called on State actors to partner with women groups and women-focused civil society organisations in addressing the underlying causes of conflict between farming communities and Fulani herdsmen in the affected states to find sustainable solutions.

They urged the Police, Nigeria Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies to coordinate activities towards providing an integrated security framework that promotes civil-security relationship to forestall further attack or crisis and the state and Federal Government to set up an inter-ethnic dialogue forum with representatives of the different ethnic groups of the farmers and

Fulani herdsmen to proffer solutions to the recurring agro-pastoralist conflict in the country.