Tension is rising in Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa State after resident herders protested the alleged seizure of their land by a rice-farming company.
A viral video of some of the herders surfaced online showing a violent confrontation between the herders and officials working on the land at Marke forest.
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The state government reportedly allocated the forest to a firm for rice farming but the herders said they inherited the land and have used it for centuries. Thus, their ownership cannot be revoked overnight.
“How can you just come overnight and ask us to leave our homes? We won’t accept this,” one of the protesters said in the video.
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A female protester said their forefathers were born and raised in the area but they have been told to pack their belongings and leave.
Reacting to the video, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural association urged the government to address the complaints of the herders.
The chairperson of the group in the state, Umar Kabiru, told PREMIUM TIMES that the association learnt that the government donated the land to a rice milling company.
“As the leader of the Fulani in the state, this is a disturbing development for me because such incidents normally lead to crises in communities. We hope the situation will be addressed before it degenerates into something else.
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“We are aware of this administration’s commitment to addressing the farmers,-herders clashes. The governor’s policy of prompt response to such crises is key. We have reported the situation to the government and we are expecting a good response,” he said.
The Executive Secretary of the Jigawa State Farmers and Herders Board, Salisu Abdullahi, said the state government has ordered that work be stopped on the contentious land and ordered an investigation.
“The rice milling company working on the land claimed that it got the land from the previous administration, which is why the government ordered them to halt further development on the land and summoned all the parties involved,” Mr Abdullahi told PREMIUM TIMES.
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