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Plateau State: Analyst Traces Ethno-religious Attacks To Economic Challenges

A Security Consultant, Retired Captain Aliyu Umar, on Friday traced the tribal clashes and attacks prevalent in some Nigeria’s northern states to economic challenges as … Continue reading Plateau State: Analyst Traces Ethno-religious Attacks To Economic Challenges


A Security Consultant, Retired Captain Aliyu Umar, on Friday traced the tribal clashes and attacks prevalent in some Nigeria’s northern states to economic challenges as well as political manipulations, saying that the attacks are fuelled by ethno-religious and socio-political influences.

Following a recent attack in Shonong village in Bachit District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, Mr Umar, who was speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, said the socio-cultural infusion between the Birom tribe and Fulani’s had led to intermarriages, changes in vocational orientation and adoption of names.

“They intermarry; they live together and suddenly they are at war. Don’t forget 20 – 30 years ago the same ethnic differences were there but they were not fighting. The same religious differences were there but they were not fighting,” he said, insisting  that “the doings or the undoing’s of our political leaders are actually feeding that dog we call crime” which is probably out of control.

He also noted that the tribes involved had farming and herding as their vocations but pointed out that the cattlemen were responding violently to the problems of lack of available lands for their herds to graze. “The cattlemen are forced to contend with farmers who also need the same limited lands and water resources to cultivate crops,” he said.

Both groups face the challenge caused by population increase which makes land a scarce commodity as masses spread out to settle on lands which were formerly in abundance.

According to the analyst, the attacks had become a cycle – ‘the police respond late, then there is a public outcry demanding that perpetrators are caught afterwhich a high powered delegation is sent to condole the victims and then another attack occurs’.

Addressing the issue from the perspective of security, Umar identified lapses on the part of security agents, particularly in respect to response time to emergencies. He added that security measures by operatives were ‘reactive’ and not ‘active’ because security presence should be established before attacks and not after.

Reports gathered by Channels Television revealed that the police arrived at the scene of the attack five hours later. Umar berated this, saying it is an indication of poor police presence in the area. “Criminals could have travelled as far as another continent within that time space,” he stressed.

He, however, noted that it would be impossible to deploy officers to all attack-prone communities as there were not enough men in the force, but was quick to add that police outposts should be active while the agents should have rapid response camps to tackle such cases.

While listing suggestions, which he said would help curb the attacks, Umar commended the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, for taking the initiative to present his scorecard in the 2013 and called on top ranking officers of the force to emulate the same as it would help gather data needed to tackle insecurity.

He advised that a better system of communication and response should be established as the attackers would be camped nearby in order to quickly escape after carrying out the crimes.

He called on the government to be proactive in its obligations as the security agents would need to be properly mobilised, funded and equipped to do their jobs.

The retire military officer also advocated the introduction of herdsmen to ranching, an initiative he said would also boost productivity.