Nigeria: New report highlights Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen violence

On 19 September 2017, International Crisis Group published a detailed report on the violent southward migration of Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen. The report states: "Propelled by desertification, insecurity and the loss of grazing land to expanding settlements, the southward migration of Nigeria"s herders is causing violent competition over land with local farmers" and: "Among Christian communities, herder attacks are widely seen as a subtle form of jihad", which is part of a broader plan to Islamize Nigeria. However, the report goes on to state: "These charges are not supported by any solid evidence, but they are aggravating inter-faith distrust and, undermining the country"s fragile unity." Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research (WWR), states: This report highlights the intensity and scale of the violence and is to be welcomed because it draws the attention of the international community to a situation that is very much neglected. The report also brings to light the environmental and ethnic aspects of the violence of the herdsmen. While the report seems to dismiss the views of those who see the violence from a religious perspective, given the fact that the victims of the violence are disproportionately Christian the concerns and worry of Christian Nigerians is very understandable. (Indeed, four recent WWR reports deliberately highlight the religious aspect behind the conflict: 1, 2, 3 and 4.) However, it is also important to heed the report"s implicit message to Christian leaders not to be co-opted by various political and ethnic groups and engage in "˜inflammatory rhetoric" that would aggravate the conflict."