Date: 2015-09-08

Rural women farmers in agrarian communities in different local government areas of Kwara State have cried out over incessant attacks on them and their farmlands by Fulani-Bororo cattle rearers.

The women farmers, under the aegis of Smallholder Women Farmers Association of Nigeria (SHOWFAN) from Ilorin East, Asa, Kaiama, Patigi, Ifelodun and Baruten Local Government areas of the state, said the cattle rearers often invade their farmlands with their grazing cows both night and day and in the process, destroy their farm produce and physically assault and rape them.

The women farmers spoke at a meeting organised by a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), a partner of Actionaid Nigeria, in Ilorin, last Wednesday.

Speaking with Community News, Hajia Hajara Abdulmumin from Nuku community in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state, who displayed her amputated fingers, said she had her fingers cut off after being hit on the head by her assailant, who invaded her farm with a herd of cattle and destroyed her groundnut farm.

While noting that such cases were often reported to the traditional ruler and the police, Hajia Abdulmumin lamented that the cattle rearers were usually released by law enforcement agents. She further noted that the women farmers, who fed on the produce from their farms now resort to buying food items. She called on concerned authorities and stakeholders to investigate the persistent attack by the Fulani cattle rearers, adding that the development had affected food security and increased the level of poverty in the state. Another farmer, Iyabo Babatunde, from Ipetu-Abidi Ore in Asa Local Government Area of the state, said the cattle rearers had contaminated their source of drinking water, which she said was dug by the community due to lack of potable water in the area, adding that the Fulani bathed in the water and take their cattle there to drink. While speaking on the simplified version of the UN voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of land, fisheries and forests, the Senior Programme Officer of CCEPE, Mr. Abdulrahman Ayuba, said farmers should demand full compensation where their rights have been lawfully or unlawfully violated. Mr. Ayuba said the UN guidelines also stated that communities, including farmers, traditional and religious leaders, have the obligation to ensure that women are not discriminated against on issues that relate to the use of land, fisheries and forests.