Following the abduction and rescue of teachers and pupils in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, stakeholders, including Fulani leaders, security agencies, farmers and community leaders have promised to ensure peaceful coexistence in the state.
The stakeholders made this commitment at a high-level meeting involving Fulani leaders, security agencies, farmers, traditional institutions and community representatives.
The meeting, it was gathered, was held to address insecurity, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts and the need to strengthen peaceful coexistence between Fulani communities and their host communities.
Speaking, the Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Oyo State branch and convener of the meeting, Ibrahim Jiji, said the gathering was organised to draw attention of the people of the state to emerging security and Fulani challenges, as well as to encourage collective responsibility in maintaining peace.
While acknowledging the commitment of the state government to peace and security, he said government alone could not guarantee peace without the cooperation of citizens.
‘We, the people, also have a responsibility to ensure peace,’ he said.
Jiji noted that the meeting was concerned with the persistent problem of kidnapping and the tendency to associate criminal activities with the entire Fulani community.
He said the Fulani community had been facing persecution in some parts of the state because of the perception that confronting one Fulani person would lead to the exposure of other suspected criminals.
He urged the government and the public to distinguish between law-abiding Fulani citizens and individuals involved in criminal activities.
‘We are not criminals. We are not kidnappers. If we have a Fulani who is a criminal, we will not hide him. Likewise, if there is a criminal among our host Yoruba communities, they should not hide him. This is how to ensure peace,’ he said.
The National President of MACBAN, Alhaji Baba Othman Ngelzarma, hailed the cooperation between Fulani communities and their hosts in Oyo State, describing it as a model worthy of emulation.
Represented by A. B. Danmasani, the MACBAN President expressed concern about the increasing breakdown of social cohesion in some parts of Nigeria, where ethnic and communal tensions had created situations in which different groups turned against one another.
He called on affluent members of the Fulani community to pay greater attention to the welfare of poor and vulnerable members of the community.
He urged traditional leaders, community heads and less privileged members of the society to cooperate with government and security agencies in the interest of peace.
Representative of Oyo West Local Government chairman, Ambassador Muyideen Adeyemi, said there was a cordial relationship between Yoruba residents and Fulani communities in the local government.
He clarified that the meeting was not limited to Oyo West, but was convened as part of a wider effort to promote peace and security across Oyo State.
Adeyemi, however, stressed the importance of involving traditional rulers in future engagements, noting that Obas and other traditional authorities were strategically positioned to communicate government and security messages to residents in rural communities.
He advised MACBAN leaders across the state’s local government areas to establish closer working relationships with their respective local government executive chairmen.
The representative of the state farmers’ council chairman, Oladeji Emmanuel, said the relationship between farmers and Fulani should not be defined by hostility.
He argued that most disputes between the two groups were primarily economic and centred on competing interests over land, crops and livestock.
‘Agbe (farmers) and Fulani are not enemies towards one another. The issues between them are economic-the properties between them,’ he said.
He called for improved communication between farmers, Fulani leaders, traditional rulers and local government authorities.