Unrest: Fulani pastoralists and the Enugu community form a combined task team

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

A combined task force has been established by the Eha-Amufu community, the Isiuzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to provide security in the area.

Following a meeting between the groups, Mr. Tony Edeh, Chairman of the Eha-Amufu and Fulani Communities Peace and Reconciliation Committee, revealed this on Saturday in Enugu.

According to Edeh, the groups decided to put aside their differences and carry on coexisting peacefully.

Recently, a number of kidnappings and attacks against community members occurred in Eha-Amufu, which increased mistrust between the local pastoralists and members of the host community.

However, a committee with representatives from both sides was established and given the task of bringing the two parties together and finding a long-term solution to the recent spike in local insecurity.

The groups were able to come up with a long-term solution to the issues, according to the committee chairman.

He added that the committee reached a number of conclusions regarding how to prevent incidents like this from creating mistrust between pastoralists and their host community.

“We have come to a lot of conclusions about how to proceed and ensure that the problem is settled. Following the path of peace is preferable, and we have all decided to stick with it.

We will soon begin putting those measures into practice in order to keep coexisting peacefully, according to Edeh.

Bishop Daniel Odinga of the Eha-Amufu Diocese, an Anglican, also praised the peace and healing agreement.

Odinga argued that the fact that the conflicting parties came together to discuss a solution was a good thing.

“The meeting was successful since the parties to the dispute came to an agreement to settle the matter. We have decided to repair our relationships and put an end to the kidnapping and attacks.

In order to fully resolve the issue and resume living in peace, Odinga stated, “it is now up to us to express our points and meet with the government to come in and be active in doing so.”

Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, the South-East Zonal Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), who is a Fulani representative, also praised the procedure.

The mutual mistrust between the herders and residents of their host community had been dispelled, according to Siddiki, and this was satisfying.

“Our people were thought to be responsible for a string of kidnappings and attacks in the region. We ourselves had suspicions that the host community was to blame.

In order to agree on how to police the community and coexist peacefully, he said, “we decided to gather together to find out what is actually happening in that region.

The MACBAN chairman announced that the committee had decided to form a 14-member joint task force to secure the neighborhood, with seven members coming from each faction.

Without concrete evidence, Siddiki said that it would be incorrect to assign any party the blame for the community’s security lapses.

Siddiki stated, “I have always maintained that criminals should be dealt as such regardless of where they come from.