EFFECT  OF HERDSMEN   ACTIVITIES  ON NIGERIANS:  A CASE   STUDY OF BAUCHI  STATE       (2015-2020)

ABSTRACT

Herdsmen assaults in recent years have been marked by the kidnapping and murdering of people, as well as the destruction of homes, schools, health care facilities, churches, mosques, and farms, plunging the country into a condition of chronic insecurity. The insurgent has so attacked the fundamentals of food, health, shelter, education, and protection, which are the foundations of human security. As a result, the study looks into the effect of herdsmen activities on human security in Nigeria. Using qualitative methodology, both primary and secondary data was employed.  Findings reveal that insurgency has claimed a lot of lives and property; compounded the food and nutrition insecurity situation in the country; aided the spread of infectious diseases; denied millions of children and youths access to education; increased the number of internally displaced persons with dire need of shelter and has caused people to live in constant fear and anxiety. This research concludes that herdsmen Insurgency has negative impact on human security, and recommends that counter-insurgency will be effective only when issues of poverty, corruption and bad governance are effectively addressed.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study

For current national and international turmoil, Herdsmen is a term commonly used. That is the most serious challenge to security and peace. A Herdsmen act provides an avenue of significant danger involving a variety of risks. In terms of medical, psychological, environmental and practical implications, Herdsmen has a significant effect. A Herdsmen attack is often accompanied by a credible possibility of a future attack. The consequence of such risk is followed by a subjective characteristic that can overpower the environment of any citizen who leaves in such a situation. (Osita-Njoku, Princewill, Agnes and Chikere, 2015)

In Bruce Hoffman’s (2013) terms, Herdsmen often has political goals and motivations, or is either lethal, orchestrated to have a far-reaching psychological impact beyond the target victims, committed by an organizational body with an established chain of conspirators whose participants are not wearing badges or identifiable insignia, and conducted by an organized party or non-state agency. According to the Convention of the League of Nations (1937), which defines Herdsmen as an act of any illegal act aimed at a state that is intended to create a state of disorder in the minds of a group of people or the general public.

Herdsmen, on the other hand, can only be politically inspired by people to accomplish political aims, although it can also be used by those individuals or organizations who typically have very little experience of influence. Herdsmen may be considered a “weapon of the weak” when used in such a manner (Scott 1985).

In the early 2000s, as a small sect of Sunni Islamic scholars promoting a stringent and extreme reading and enforcement of Islamic law for Nigeria, Herdsmen in the other as a militant organization in Nigeria was launched. Calling itself Jama’a Ahl as-Sunna Li-da’wa wa-al Jihad (translated in Arabic as “People Committed to the Propagation of the Teachings of the Prophet and Jihad”), this group is widely referred to as Herdsmen (translated as “Western education is prohibited”), originally the leadership of the sect did not advocate for or settle for violence, during its ff its followers engaged in regular clashes with the police.

The group has been faced by the Nigerian forces since the formation of the Herdsmen insurgency (2000-till date) in the Northeast of Nigeria, where it operates on the premise that “western education is prohibited,” the endless conflict has taken over 5,000 lives, including women and children, was reported by the United Nations. Over 6 million Nigerians have been affected by Nigerian officials and more than 300,000 people have been expelled from their original home, more so losing billions of naira worth of private and public land.

In the northeast and herdsmen in the other part of Nigeria, the actions of the Herdsmen insurgency have plenty of consequences for mainly girls. Thousands of children have lost their lives since its formation. In 2013, in a string of unimaginable school attacks in the northeast that killed hundreds of boys, Herdsmen attacked small children. It was later confirmed that the organization was also engaged in the abduction of children, and it is disheartening to realize that abducted girls were subjected to rape, early marriage, and used as sex slaves.

As the incident in Chibok is widely recognized, in the northeast of Nigeria, multiple abduction cases are escalating. Often, boys and girls who are forcefully kidnapped are recruited, and this has a significant effect on society’s social welfare. Many children are displaced and sexually abused by girls.

In addition to the massive migration, these acts of violence and herdsmen destroy or orphan too many children. Many of the children harmed by such human activities are deeply traumatized, while many are forced to survive on the streets. According to a UNCSO survey, thanks to

Herdsmen operations, Nigeria now has the world’s largest number of out-of-school students.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Because of the sequence of attacks on schools and students by Herdsmen sects, schooling and agriculture is under serious attack. The intentional danger to producers, educators, scholars and students poses a significant obstacle to obtaining affordable education and other vibrant facilities for everyone. Kidnapping, loss of life of innocent people, injury and harm to property and other vibrant facilities caused by the bombing or destruction of buildings by herders or Herdsmen are the results of the attacks. Similarly, in the northeast, more than 85 schools have been closed down by education authorities (Ugwumba & Odom. 2015). The growing attack on education by Herdsmen should be treated and discussed as a social issue.

The deaths of defenseless Nigerians are reported on a regular basis in their numbers through Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Kogi, Zamfara, and some parts of the southern Nigerian states of Enugu, Edo, Delta, and Ebonyiet al. Since June 2015, the United States Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) states that it has recorded at least 19,890 deaths in Nigeria. This is as Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), headquartered in the United Kingdom, announced that in the first quarter of 2018, Fulani militias killed 1,061 civilians in about 106 attacks on communities in central Nigeria.

Given the extent of the irredeemable suffering caused by this militant organization on northern children, the threat to stability, the threat to young children’s education, the pain of being orphaned, the kidnap and rape of young girls, the effect of these Herdsmen acts on children in

Northeast Nigeria needs to be investigated.

1.3 Research Questions

The research discusses the ultimate influence of Herdsmen violence on children:

1. What effect does Herdsmen activities has on children’s schooling and in Bauchi State? ii.            What are the social consequences of Herdsmen activities to people of Bauchi State?

iii. What are the educational consequences of Herdsmen on Internally Displaced Persons IDPs in Bauchi State?

1.4 Objective of the Study

The primary objective of this research is to examine the impact of herdsmen insurgency on the people of Nigeria  . The basic aim of this research is:

1. To examine the social-psychological effect of the insurgency of herdsmen on people of

Bauchi State  ii.  To assess the effect of separatist activity by Herdsmen activities on children’s schooling in Bauchi State.  iii. Discuss the health consequence of Herdsmen activities on displaced persons (IDPs) in

Bauchi State.

1.5    Research Hypotheses

1. The effect of the danger of Herdsmen is significantly linked to the level of schooling of children in the affected areas.
2. The influence of the challenge of herdsmen does not affect government social psychology in service delivery.

 

 

 

1.6 Scope/Limitation of the Study

This research would focus on the influence of Herdsmen on children in Northeast Nigeria. The research would use a triangulation approach that includes a descriptive survey template on attacks on schools and other sites in Bauchi State of  Nigeria, with a primary emphasis on data collection from north-eastern states. The report will focus on the Herdsmen attacks and discuss children’s problems related to their effect on education, social psychology, and health.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The significance of the report on the effect of Herdsmen on children is to highlight the negative impact of the continuing Herdsmen attacks on children, as well as to bring about peace and stability in northern Nigeria. It calls on Herdsmen and other unspecified gunmen to stop all attacks on the citizens of northern Nigeria immediately and to bring an end to religious and social attacks.

The social distress that these kids experience. In order to ensure that the right to life and the right to peace and stability are fully protected and promoted in Nigeria, this report would be of enormous importance to the Nigerian authorities to take appropriate action.

1.8 Definition of terms

1. Herdsmen: a psychological war tactic to accomplish its political, religious or other aims by purposefully generating an atmosphere of terror within a state’s citizens.
2. Insurgency: is an act of resistance against power.

• Violence: is described by the WHO as the international use of physical force or strength, endangered or real, against oneself, another entity, or against a group or society, resulting in injury, death, psychological damage or deprivation, or getting a high like hood.

1. Counterinsurgency: Strategies or measures that are taken to prevent, deter, preempt, and respond to insurgency attacks; techniques used by stakeholders for denying the insurgents the opportunity of using their tactics (Ewa, 2017).
2. Public policy: A guide government has designed for direction and practice in certain problem areas. It is a relatively stable purposive course of action followed by government in dealing with some problem or matter of concern.
3. Security: Protection against internal and external threats and preserving sovereignty over territory. Once a government cannot guarantee security, rebellious armed groups or criminal gangs may use violence to exploit the security gaps.

1.10 Organization of the Study

This work of analysis is organized into five chapters. Chapter one includes the introduction, issue statement, research problems and research priorities, and the importance of the analysis to be done in the study. In chapter two, as well as the theoretical context, and the methodological analysis, various applicable literature that shapes the thesis will be critically reviewed. The detailed research methods that will be used in this research work, research architecture, method of data processing, and method of data analysis will be part of Chapter three. Chapter four will deal with the processing of data, data analysis and data interpretation. The introduction of a review of the study, findings and suggestions based on the research carried out will be part of Chapter five.

EFFECT  OF HERDSMEN   ACTIVITIES  ON NIGERIANS:  A CASE   STUDY OF BAUCHI  STATE       (2015-2020)

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