In the beginning
There was peace
Cattle herders carried only sticks
To control the cattle
They even shared milk on their way
Cattle herders were the meekest people on earth
Then two things happened . Two initially unrelated things that would later reinforce each other
- They started to stray into farms
And farms started to stray into the paths. That drew the ire of hosts against the nomads. Bad blood ensued
- Cattle rustlers started work. Armed robbers saw Cattle in the wild as unprotected bullion vans wandering from place to place , so why go to rob banks .
Some of the villages that lost farms to the menace of cattle started to rustle cattle too . Cattle herders now had to carry guns.
To protect themselves further the cattle herders formed taskforce . An armed militia
Once the herders or cattle were attacked anywhere
The herder would send a message .
The taskforce would send a recce/ investigator
If the situation is confirmed and no timely restitution is in the offing
The heavily armed militia will arrive in the dead of the night to leave sorrow tears and blood as detterence
After the midnight massacre the militia will disappear into the bush to return to Sokoto or Kebbi or even Mali
Wherever they came from . Their jurisdiction covered the entire subregion
With time the ruthless militia started to have camps in the northwest for eaey deployment to trouble spots
The rise of the militia was the beginning of the militarization of the forest.
The Fulani in the wild discovered the power of protective banditry
As cattle rustling and farmer herder issues bloomed
The militias became messiahs , lords
Absolute power doesnt just intoxicate , it evolves
Investment into cattle and herding dwindled
Because of farmer herder skirmishes abd dwindling returns
Forest Fulani youths were thrown into joblessness as the domesticated Fulani and Hausa pivoted to cropping
Forest Fulani wouldn’t have it
In Zamfara to burnt farms abd collected ransoms before people could farm
Some of the jobless youths took to kidnapping
Others went into mining
But kidnapping brought the highest rewards
So the militias that hsve parked their bus in nigeria
Became freelance bandits
Ugo Egbujo
Source: This Is Bendel
