Following the rescue of teachers and students in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, stakeholders including Fulani leaders, security agencies, farmers and community leaders have harped on to peaceful coexistence among residents of the state.
Stakeholders gave this commitment at a high-level stakeholders’ meeting involving Fulani leaders, security agencies, farmers, traditional institutions and community representatives has been held in Oyo West Local Government Area headquaitrrs to address insecurity, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts and the need to strengthen peaceful coexistence between Fulani communities and their host communities.
Speaking, the chairman Oyo State MACBAN and convener of the meeting, Ibrahim Jiji, in his opening remarks, 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 stressed that 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 particularly concerned with the persistent problem of kidnapping and the tendency to associate criminal activities with the entire Fulani community.
According to him, 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 members of 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.
Also speaking, the National President of MACBAN, Alhaji Baba Othman Ngelzarma, commended 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 over 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 also called on affluent members of the Fulani community to pay greater attention to the welfare of poor and vulnerable members of their 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 the 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 the state farmers’ council chairman, Alhaji 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.
Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Afijio, CSP Mojid Lawal commended the Fulani leadership for organising the meeting, describing it as consistent with the community-policing strategy being promoted by the police hierarchy.
He supported the call for traditional rulers to be actively involved in the peace initiative, noting that Obas and community leaders had the authority and influence to communicate directly with Baales and residents in rural communities.
He also acknowledged concerns over the tendency to blame all criminal activities on Fulani people.
Speaking on behalf of the Sarki Fulani of Lagos and Chairman Council of Fulani Chiefs South West, Farooq Gajo commended Fulani leaders in Oyo State as well as the security agencies for their efforts to promote peace.
He said the various contributions at the meeting demonstrated a shared desire for peaceful coexistence.
He emphasised that criminality had neither tribe nor religion and pledged the continued cooperation of the Fulani community with security agencies.
However, he explained that the reluctance of some Fulani herders to approach security agencies was partly caused by what he described as experiences of all
eged discrimination and mistreatment.
He said some Fulani people viewed security personnel and certain members of host communities with suspicion because they feared they might not receive fair treatment if they reported themselves or their concerns.
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