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Misanet.com / IRIN / afrol News, 23 February - At least 23,000 Fulani herders have fled Nigeria's eastern Taraba State to Cameroon to escape clashes which broke out in the Mambila plateau with farming communities at the beginning of the year, a pastoral association said. The Miyetti Alla Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said in a statement made available to IRIN on Friday, it had counted 23,647 nomads who fled the Sarduana local government area of Taraba State into Cameroon. Fulani herdsmen, M'bororo, are kin to the people establishing the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria and Cameroon in the 19th century. According to the statement signed by MACBAN secretary general, Tukur Abashe; "Attacks on Fulani pastoralists who produce 75 percent of the protein needs of the country are becoming incessant, particularly in states like Plateau, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Benue states." He said the incident in the Mambila plateau between 1 and 7 January resulted in the death of more than 96 herdsmen and the loss of 53,791 cattle. Abashe blamed the violence on a Mambila militia group known as "Ashana - no case to answer". He said they have operated freely in the area in the past year with the backing of local politicians. - Had they (the militia members) been arrested, the carnage witnessed in early January would have been averted, the statement said. Officials of the Sarduana local government council, however, dispute the account of MACBAN and accuse the Fulani herdsmen of inviting "mercenaries" from neighbouring countries who launched attacks on farming communities of the Mambila plateau. Zachariah Yieji, a special adviser to the Sarduana local government, said in a statement published in the 'Thisday' daily on Thursday that the Fulani herdsmen had taken over most of the land for grazing purposes, leaving the local farmers little agricultural land. - Fulanis who constitute 10 percent of the population occupy 85 percent of the entire Mambila land, Yieji said. "The Mambilas, Kakas, Pansos and Kambus, who are mostly farmers, use only 15 percent of the land for subsistence agriculture." The peoples however occupy the most fertile lands, best suited for agriculture. Land use in the zone always has been extensive, and sharing of land resources between agriculturalists and herdsmen has been customary since the arrival of M'bororo Fulanis in the 16th century, according to historians. Clashes between pastoral and farming communities revolving around disputes over grazing land became frequent in various parts of Nigeria's central and northern regions in recent years. Some analysts have blamed the trend on increasing desertification further north, which is pushing herders southwards in their search for pasture, often putting them in conflict with farming communities. The clashes fall into the pattern of violent conflicts in Nigeria between so-called settlers and indigenous people, which have rocked the north and centre of the country in recent years. In Northern Cameroon, the Fulani people still enjoys a relatively privileged status, heading customary government. The M'bororo minority of the otherwise sedentarised Fulani people has a freer access to pastures due to protection from the governing Fulani, but remains underprivileged also in Cameroon. In Northern Nigeria, the sedentary Fulani people has become a privileged minority, often representing the religious leadership, but seldom having political power.
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