At least four people sustained injuries in Papa area of Sade community, Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi State, after suspected herders allegedly set fire to houses and attacked residents in a renewed farmer-herder conflict over land.
According to residents, the latest incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the attackers stormed Rugar Ja’o settlement and burned three houses and destroyed foodstuff, clothing, and personal belongings.
Idi Adamu, a Fulani farmer, told WikkiTimes in a phone interview that about 50 people, including women and children, were displaced during the attack. “One person was severely injured and taken to the hospital. We pleaded with them to spare our homes and graze on the farms instead, but they refused. We ended up sleeping outside without shelter,” he said.
Adamu claimed that some attackers were known local herders, while others were strangers believed to have come from other states. He said the conflict stems from a government allocation of parts of a designated grazing reserve to farmers, a decision that has been resisted by some herders.
Rising Tensions and Earlier Violence
A community leader, Alhaji Rabiu Bako, alleged that the unrest has been building for weeks, with some herders allegedly inviting others from Zamfara and Katsina to oppose the farming of the disputed land. “The governor allocated the land to farmers to feed their families, but the herders want the entire area for grazing,” he said.
Bako noted that previous clashes in the area had already claimed at least six lives. “Even after the authorities asked them to vacate the area, they refused and went on to attack more people, burning motorcycles, carts, and now houses. There have been no arrests despite repeated reports to security agencies,” he added.
The District Head of Sade, Malam Musa Isah, confirmed the incident and added that the government had intervened before the recent violence. “The governor set up a committee to address the matter, and we advised farmers to avoid the farms for now to prevent further clashes,” he said.
He expressed hope that the state government’s peace committee would bring a lasting solution and provide relief to victims. “Farmers and herders are brothers. We must find a way to live together,” Isah stressed.
Earlier Efforts for Mediation
This violence is the latest flashpoint in a long-running dispute over land use between farmers and herders in the area. A few weeks ago, Governor Bala Mohammed faulted the escalating hostilities when he visited Nahutan Darazo Community for a peace dialogue aimed at resolving the crisis.
He acknowledged the complex history of forest allocations in the state and noted that 2,500 hectares of forest land had been earmarked for farming — including plots in Alia, Sade, and Yautari in Darazo — to meet the growing demand for agricultural land.
Governor Mohammed lamented that some herders had lost traditional grazing routes to farmland, while some beneficiaries of farm allocations had sublet their plots for profit instead of cultivating them.
He announced the formation of a high-level committee of land officers, traditional rulers, and security officials to review allocations, protect grazing reserves, and, where necessary, revoke lands contributing to unrest.
Security chiefs, including the State Commissioner of Police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, attended the meeting. Aliyu pledged that law enforcement agencies would deploy resources to curb violence and urged both communities to embrace peaceful coexistence.
Representatives of the farmers accused herders of attacking them on their farmlands. In contrast, herder representatives protested the takeover of grazing lands, grievances that continue to fuel tensions despite repeated calls for dialogue.
